Green is the Beginning
by In this world live all worlds
Summary: There’s a new Ranger in town but who is it? Meanwhile Tommy’s having trouble fighting his doubts whilst the rest of the team have their own problems.
1. New Beginnings

**Green is the Beginning**

Disclaimer: Surely disclaimer says it all? I do not own Power Rangers or any of its characters, except the ones I make up obviously. Mores the pity but if I did do you think I'd be a poor writer doing this for my own pleasure or do you think I'd be living rich in America and drowning in Jason David Frank's beautiful eyes…

**There's a new Ranger in town but who is it? Meanwhile Tommy's having trouble fighting his doubts whilst the rest of the team have their own problems.**

Okay couples fans, I know Tommy is usually with Kat or Kim which I love to read about, but I figure enough gets written about that and besides they were always more like childhood sweethearts and everyone needs a few of those. Tommy's older now so he needs a new and mature relationship; someone to help him with his problems and be with him for the rest of his life. Besides in Dino Thunder there was definitely not enough love interest especially for poor Tommy, so here goes…

**Chapter 1 – A New Beginning**

The bell rang shrilly across the school signaling the end of another period and the beginning of lunch. Kira dumped her heavy bag on the bench and waited for her friends to appear. They always sat together at this table and so it was only a matter of time before they arrived making, as usual, the most noise ensuring they were easily discernable from the throngs of students eagerly making their way outside.

Conner and Ethan were arguing as usual; probably about some stupid cyber game Ethan was playing. No doubt Conner, who was tossing a football easily in the air, was telling him he was a geek. Kira snorted a laugh as she took in his red football kit and arrogant smile, thinking that his 'dumb jock' act was no better than that of a cyber geek.

Trent was trailing almost reluctantly along behind them, occasionally shaking his head at the two in front. Kira watched him bend his head back over the book he was trying to read, even as he hefted his bulging bag back onto his shoulder. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Am I the only normal one in this place?" she muttered. It had only been a few months since she and her new found friends had stumbled upon Dr. Oliver's secret and bonded with the dino gems. Her science teacher it seemed was weird and even Hayley who ran the ever more popular Cyber Café was not all she seemed.

"No dude," Conner was saying as the three approached, "Cassidy is only interested in herself, have you even seen the way she treats that poor guy Devin? Hardly the best material for a girlfriend."

Kira sighed again, making room for Trent who smiled ruefully at her. Conner's second favorite past time was teasing Ethan for his interest in Cassidy Cornell. Personally Kira couldn't see what was so great about her, in fact she could see very little _good_ about her, but she still felt sorry for Ethan.

Ethan merely shrugged pulling his sandwiches out of his bag. "I don't see why you've got it in for her, she's just competitive. Underneath all that she's really quite nice you just have to get to know her that's all." Conner spluttered and nearly spat out his drink as he laughed, "I don't want to get to know her, in fact I don't want get _near_ her. I've said it before dude she's a shallow, superficial airhead!"

Catching sight of Ethan's hurt face Kira interrupted dryly; 'Then she should fit your ideal of a perfect girlfriend." Trent and Ethan burst out laughing and so did Kira when she caught sight of Conner's face, which was a mixture of annoyance and a rueful grimace as he realized he'd had it coming.

Deciding to change the subject Trent nodded towards a distant figure carrying a mountain of books, "Have you guys met our new history teacher yet?" The others turned to watch the figure scurry between oblivious students, struggling with her burden.

Conner groaned "Oh man, we have history next," He said to Kira and Ethan, "I haven't done that essay on the Egyptian burial that Mrs. Hodges asked us to do over the term break."

"Better get on and do that then." Said Trent handing him a pad of paper and a pen, Conner shot him a pained look.

"Do you think she's be understanding if I said that I'd been busy fighting the evil forces of a dino freak named Mezagog?"

Ethan patted his back sympathetically, "I think you're clutching at straws man."

Leaving Ethan to help Conner, Kira turned to Trent. Conner's last words had made her wince as she remembered that their enemy was in fact Trent's adopted father, Anton Mercer. She often worried about the white ranger; having once been evil he'd found it hard to integrate into the group, there had been that whole 'trust issue.' Conner particularly hadn't been that forgiving especially when Trent revealed that he had known all along that his father was in fact Mezagog.

Seeing Trent was packing away she quickly followed suit and began to walk with him to their next class. That hadn't helped either, she thought; he was in hardly any of the same classes as she and the others, and he was always under such pressure from his father to do well in everything. Anton Mercer seemed to have a fixation on being the best at everything and ensuring Trent was the same. She could see where the whole 'world domination' obsession came from.

"Hey Trent, how did you do in that test Dr. O set us yesterday, I think I totally flunked

out, biology's not really my strong poi-" Her overly bright and cheerful chatter was cut short by Trent who suddenly turned around to face her.

"It's okay Kira you don't have to pretend everything's alright because I know its not. You don't have to apologize for Conner either, he's right my father_ is_ some sort megalomaniac who changes into a dinosaur hybrid when he's had a bad day, and whose main aim in life is to kill me and my friends!" His voice had been rising steadily and

Kira winced as people began to turn and look at them. Trent sighed and his shoulders visibly slumped when he realized they were being stared at, he sat down heavily on a bench. "Great," He muttered, "Now I'm becoming hysterical and people probably think I need my head examined."

Kira looked at him sadly and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "People don't think that Trent, you're just-" Again he cut her off and his face was filled with so much pain and confusion she caught her breath.

"You know what Kira; sometimes I think they're right. Maybe I do need my head examined that way I'd be able to figure out just what the hell is going on inside it. How is anybody's life this confusing?" He asked a plaintive note in his voice. "Maybe it's a cliché to say it's unfair and why me but I have to ask it Kira; I'm a power ranger and I'm supposed to fight evil, but what are we supposed to do when that evil is a lot closer to home than we first thought?"

Kira stared dumbly at him, for once she had no witty answer and no sensible one either. The bell was what pulled them out of their day dream; Trent stood and walked off to his lesson leaving Kira to stand in a tide of chattering people in the bright sunshine.

Meanwhile, Dr. Tommy Oliver was wading through the throngs of students barely paying them any attention, his gaze was fixed upon the file in front of him. It was a map showing the location of what he hoped was another dino egg, Hayley had found some high levels of energy in the area usually associated with the unhatched zords and now all he had to do was find it and dig it up. He pushed an impatient hand through his short spiky hair still unused to its new length, having spent most of his life growing it. Already he itched to go and look for it but Principal Randall was on the war path, nothing unusual there, and there was no way he could escape his classes to go and look for it. He would just have to hope Mezagog and his cronies hadn't found the same energy levels and gone and dug it up before he'd had a chance to get there.

Tommy's reverie was broken when he collided sharply with something that gave a muffled cry, punctuated by thuds and rustling that sounded suspiciously like a large pile of books being dropped. His own papers and the map slid to the floor as well. He looked down and saw a young woman scrabbling on all fours picking up pieces of paper and books. Forgetting his own for the moment he crouched down to help her feeling guilty for not looking where he was going.

The books he picked up were heavy, much too heavy considering she was carrying so many; he glanced at the cover of one and grinned.

"Archaeology!" He exclaimed with pleasure, "Now that's a subject close to-" he looked up and his gaze collided with a pair of large green and gold eyes that put him in mind of a cat. _The moment seemed frozen._ "My heart." He finished weakly.

The eyes stared blankly at him as though she too were frozen, "Your heart." A voice repeated dreamily. _Was that her or me?_

Suddenly the eyes creased at the corners a little and he became aware of a smiling mouth further down her face. His eyes slid slowly down as though fascinated, taking in her small nose and high cheekbones surrounded by thick swathe of auburn curls.

"I'm sorry." He said finally. _God how lame can you sound bro? _He mentally kicked himself.

"It's okay, honestly." Said the mouth. _Why are you still staring at her mouth? Pull it together man._ He jerked his gaze back up and she gave him a nervous smile, which gave him another clue as to how stupidly he was acting. "It was my fault really," She continued, "I was off in my own world not really looking where I was going." She smiled anxiously again which annoyed him; he'd obviously put her on edge, _was she always this apologetic? _She suddenly looked horrified and put out a hand as if to touch him before quickly lowering it. "I didn't hurt you did I?" She asked looking terrified at the notion.

He hurried to assure he wasn't hurt. "No, no it was my fault I wasn't looking where I was going, besides it takes a lot more than that to hurt me!" He thanked God that she laughed at that because to his own ears he sounded completely lame, as though he were trying to impress her.

He handed her the papers and books as they stood and she smiled gratefully at him, and for a moment all he could do was smile back but after a while her smile became expectant and she looked slightly confused. He mentally kicked himself again realizing he was staring like a dummy once more.

"Are you sure you can carry all those alright?" He asked, almost stumbling over the words as he hurried to get them out.

"I'll be fine, thank you." She replied in her soft voice.

"I'm Tommy, Tommy Oliver I teach Science, paleontology mostly." He thrust out a hand and felt like a complete idiot again when she laughed. He blushed as he realized she had no free hands.

"Grace Peyton, history." She replied with a smile, "So I guess I'll see you around?"

"Yeah!" He said and watched her walk down the corridor.

The bell broke through his thoughts and he sighed as a new wave of students entered the corridor, he glanced at his watch and swore as he realized he was going to be late. He crouched and scooped up his papers before hurrying off to his next class.

_Okay guys this is only my first time so criticism's cool but please don't hurt me! I've already got the next few chapters lined up so if you like it please tell me so I can put them up for you!_


	2. Lost and Found

**Chapter 2 – Lost and Found**

Disclaimer: No I don't own the Power Rangers…Damn.

**Chapter title says it all- Tommy loses something and Grace finds something…**

Conner couldn't help but smile as he reached Dr. O's house, already comforted by it and the thought of the secrets it held. Once he reached that place he could be himself and not have to worry about what he was saying and whether his identity as a Ranger would be discovered. Dr. O's lair was a place of safety for him which was strange considering it was a base they used as warriors, he had to fight scary monsters and that place was a constant reminder.

He pushed open his teacher's front door and inhaled deeply. No, there was definitely something safe about it. He slouched down the steps into the cavern and was unsurprised to see the other Ranger's already sat on the old blue couch, and Ethan sprawled across the floor playing on his laptop.

There was something different today though, a kind of tension in the room. Kira was sat fiddling with her hands as though nervous and shooting quick looks at Trent when she thought no one was looking. Ethan wasn't playing; his laptop screen was filled with windows of maps and statistics and Trent appeared to be searching for something amongst piles of paper.

Tommy swore loudly throwing a set of files over his shoulder, not caring that their contents was now flying around the room. _How had he managed to lose it?_

"Hey!" A loud and indignant voice interrupted his thoughts. "Isn't that my science paper on evolution?" Tommy turned and looked at the tall boy dressed in his usual red. Conner was glaring at the paper as though he expected it to say something rude to him. "How come I only got a C minus? I worked really hard on that, and it's really comforting to see that you take care of your students work by the way. I mean come on Dr. O maybe you think its crap but that's no reason to fling it around the room-"

"Dude." Ethan's voice quietly interrupted him but Conner continued talking.

"You know in a hundred years time some other science teacher could dig this up, and it'll be all fossilized and stuff and he'll say it's priceless. He will then remark it and say "This boy was a genius and was seriously under rated by his science teacher!"

"Hate to break it to you Conner," Interrupted Tommy testily, "your paper will rot not become fossilized, and secondly can we not do this now I haven't got the time." He turned back Hayley's desk and started to sift through the papers again.

Conner turned a confused face to Ethan. "What's going on anyway?" Ethan looked up at him with a grimace and showed him the screen on his laptop.

"Dr. O lost the map Hayley gave him, which pinpointed the location of another Dino egg."

"I did not lose it!" Tommy's disembodied voice had a hysterical note to it, and a crash came from beneath the desk. He swore again. "I have just misplaced it that's all. I have put it in a place I don't know about."

Conner raised an eyebrow and looked at Ethan who just shrugged.

Grace slumped into her chair with a deep sigh; the last of her students were gone and finally the classroom was empty and peaceful. She rubbed a hand across her tired eyes. She knew she's been lucky to get the position after all she's only just graduated and it was usually hard to get a first position in teaching, but she had worked hard for it. Sure her life hadn't been easy and at times it had been hard to pick herself up and continue but she'd done it and got where she wanted to be. Reefside was, by all accounts, an unusual place to be what with its occasional monsters and the appearance of the power rangers, and admittedly the principal seemed to be a bit of a head case; but no where was perfect right?

She pulled the pile of work towards her ready for a long evening of marking history essays that the previous teacher had set. She didn't hold out much hope considering the majority had looked panicked and told her they would bring it in tomorrow, and one boy she was pretty sure had only just done it; the ink had yet to dry when he'd handed it in, his thumb smudging the words.

She flicked through the paper with a frown on her face, they were all mixed up? Then she remembered her encounter with the science teacher, Tommy that was what he had said his name was. She found herself smiling and then quickly shook her head; she'd found a place to live and work she didn't have time for that and besides it was too much to hope for anything else.

"Pull yourself together Grace, you're getting jumpy. All you did was think of him." She murmured to herself. _Yes, but that's just the first step isn't it? _The little voice in her head replied nastily.

She shook her head again and continued to sort through the paper, pausing as she found several lesson plans for science classes and putting them aside for Tommy.

She pulled out the map from the pages of an essay that was suspiciously smudged and covered in a barely legible scrawl. She recognized the site immediately as the ruins of a church near the western cliffs of Reefside. It was labeled neatly and with very few words; there was a small square drawn in the top left corner with 'Dig site' written next to it. Above the map itself was a time, date and a few sums that she didn't really understand, probably some sort of statistics she surmised.

"Six o clock today." She murmured.

It was a strange time to begin a dig; after all it started to get dark at that time. The specific date and time suggested that it was of some importance, she glanced at her watch; it was half past five and if she left now she would get there in time. Tommy would be there too and she could then return the map and lesson plans, besides the map had sparked her curiosity; what was he planning to dig up?

She grabbed her bag stuffing everything into it, grabbed her car keys and left the room feeling inexplicably excited.

What do you mean you don't know?" Conner's voice echoed incredulously across the cavern.

"I've always had a short memory, everyone knows that!" Replied Tommy defensively.

"Yeah, but you had a map Dr. O" Reasoned Kira. "I mean you were staring at it all day, how can you not remember?"

"That's why I had the map and I wrote everything down!" Said Tommy with exasperation, "So I wouldn't have to remember and so I wouldn't forget!" There was silence as the other rangers considered this explanation and decided it was strangely logical.

"Let me get this straight." Said Trent, sitting down with a sigh. "At a certain time the egg will reach its full energy, which is what happens once it's mature enough to hatch?"

"Right." Said Tommy, nodding in confirmation as he sat down next to him. "Then we find the ranger it will hatch to."

"What happens when it reaches maturity, I mean won't it be buried, how you will even know when it reaches the-"

Conner interrupted Kira, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Does it explode and leave a giant crater in the ground whilst the sky turns red?"

Tommy glared at him. "Something like that," He turned back to Kira, "It glows the colour of the zord inside, that way you can pin point its location otherwise it's impossible to find. We're in trouble because the glow occurs at a certain time and Hayley managed to calculate that."

"And you can't remember that either?" Said Ethan hopefully. "I mean I may be a 'geek' but seriously I can't understand these statistics at all; we really need Hayley."

"We can't get hold of her though," Reasoned Kira "She's still on holiday and she doesn't get back for another two weeks. Can't we just wait until then?"

"I'm afraid not," Said Tommy with a shake of his head. "The longer we leave it the more likely it is that Mezagog will discover it and use the power for himself, we can't afford any more competition."

Grace shivered in the paling light, he was late. Well it was only five to six but still for such a precise time to be written on the map he was going to be late.

She studied the ruins about her; most of the stones from the church wall had been reclaimed and the rest were half sunken and covered in moss, heaped together as though someone had attempted to tidy up.

It was the glow that caught her eye, a green point of light half buried beneath a nearby pile of stones. It seemed to fill the air until the field was infused with it, and then suddenly the glow dimmed to a steady pulse like a light on a machine. She hesitated and then reached between the rocks, her hand closing around a small smooth stone.

"Is there any time that currently springs to mind?" Said Ethan, watching Tommy massage his head.

Conner groaned when Tommy made no reply. "Can't we just go and stay at the site until it glows?"

"No," Said Tommy bluntly. "Not unless you're willing to stay up there for a week or more, we don't know when it will glow again. For all we know it could be another year!"

Kira looked up and watched the other Rangers, noting the dejected slump of Tommy's shoulders and the way the other three stood watching him as though he were going to jump up with the answer at any moment.

"I'm sorry guys; I've really let you down." Tommy said at last with a shake of his head. "I'm supposed to protect and lead you not to mention help you in any way I can, it seems I can't manage it any more."

"No!" Said Kira in shock, and ran to sit next to him. "You haven't failed us you're only human Dr. O; any of us could have done the same, you know we always forget to do our homework."

Tommy smiled at her sadly. "It's not the same Kira and you know that. My blunders could get you killed; I guess I'm just getting too old for this I'm sorry guys." He stood and walked out of the cavern, they heard his car leave only moments later…

Grace studied the stone in her palm; it felt slightly warm and was smooth like a pebble in the bottom of a river. It was a bright and deep green and seemed to shine in the fading light; she rubbed her thumb over it wondering if it was a reflection. A tingle ran up her arm and she shivered as though she'd had a reaction to it. She pushed it into her pocket and ran back to her car; she'd study it when she got home.

_**A/N** Hope you liked it guys! Please review coz it's my first story and I'd like to know what you think. Sorry if you thought it was a bit rushed but the next chapter will be coming soon!_


	3. Ranger Reflections

**Chapter 3 – Ranger reflections**

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers but I wish I did!

**Thank you guys for reviewing; it really gave me some confidence coz I was convinced I was going to be crap! Thank you my lovelies! Now shall we continue..?**

**Poor Tommy gets a bit depressed, let's see if Grace can help.**

Tommy sat at his desk watching the students working. Silence reigned as though they had known he was in a bad mood; well he wouldn't call it a bad mood he was just out of sorts that was all.

He's gone to the ruins and sat up all night just in case there had been a chance of a glow and now he was tired, not just tired, exhausted. He felt as though he'd been fighting all night and had been badly beaten, he had looked in the mirror at home and winced at the sight of his haggard face.

That morning Mezagog had sent Zeltrax to cause them trouble but the fight had been half hearted as though it had merely been a test; he and the others had chased him off and then gone their separate ways. He hadn't felt like talking to them he didn't want to discuss what had happened the night before; it was just that his fears had been realized. Was he really getting too old for this?

It had been playing on his mind for a while now, in fact ever since his dino gem had been broken and he'd had to fight his three previous powers. They had told him that he was strong enough to fight still, and for a while he had felt comforted but the feeling had soon faded, the map was just another one of those little clues.

The bell rang and the students packed away quietly and left the class in silence, he could feel their stares but he didn't look up or speak to them.

He opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out the envelope full of photos. He laid them on the desk and sorted through them, an assortment of faces and colours stared back and for one horrible moment he was sure he was going to cry.

He missed the good old days with the old teams; the days of the green, white and red ranger powers when everything was new and somehow simpler. He picked up the picture of them all sat around the table at Rocky's house eating his famous lasagna. Both the original team and the new Zeo team sat there smiling back, even he was there sandwiched between Kat and Jason dressed in red, his long hair pulled back in a pony tail.

He sighed sadly and pushed them all back in the drawer and walked over to the class room sink to wash up the test tubes that the previous class had left behind. As he stood washing them he continued to think his bleak thoughts; life was very different now he was the old veteran of the team and he wondered how his students must see him. Some sort of old fogey slowing them down like the relics he dug up, they were probably just humoring him and wondering why he was still there. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists angrily, they were right what use was he?

He swore loudly as the glass shattered in his hands and scattered throughout the sink, his blood swirled in the water and the soap stung his cuts. Great, that was all he needed.

He grabbed a cloth and attempted to staunch the flow of blood, cursing himself for being so foolish.

"Are you okay?" A soft voice broke his thoughts and he turned to see Grace standing in the doorway looking anxious.

"Yeah!" He said quickly and beckoned her in. "What can I do for you?"

She moved towards him but before she could tell him that some of his class plans had been mixed up in hers, she saw the blood and let out a gasp.

"Tommy, are you alright?" He blushed as he attempted to hide his hand from her sight, but she put the paper she was holding down moved closer.

"It's nothing; I was just clumsy that's all. Honestly it's nothing." She frowned at him suspiciously and held out her hand.

"You're not going to be a baby now are you?" She said and then raised an eyebrow a devious smile on her face. He sighed knowing he was beaten already and held out his hand. She took it gently but he winced slightly and she made a sympathetic sound as she inspected the series of cuts on his palm and knuckles

"How on earth did you manage this?" She asked as she ran a finger lightly over the cuts. Tommy shivered at the tingle of contact. "I just forgot I was holding the tubes that's all. I was distracted"

Grace raised an eyebrow at that. "They must have been some pretty deep thoughts for that to happen." She watched his face go carefully blank. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"No, it's nothing." He said bluntly attempting to shrug it off with a smile.

Grace looked doubtfully but nodded nonetheless and pulled the first aid kit out from beneath the desk. She pulled out a roll of bandage and began to wind it around his hand.

"You should probably clean these again tonight and if it keeps bleeding change the bandages too, okay?"

He sighed and nodded. "Whatever you say."

Once she was done and they had tidied away the glass and blood Tommy turned to her quizzically. "What did you want to talk to me about anyway?"

She looked confused for a moment and then smiled. "Oh, I was just coming to give you back some lesson plans I found, I thought I'd better return them." She paused and Tommy watched as a slight frown crossed her features.

"Something else?" He asked her, guessing something was troubling her.

"Yeah," She replied slowly. "It's just that…well I mean…um…last night that is-" Her muddled speech was suddenly interrupted by Kira swinging around the door way.

"Dr.O!" She said in a rush, before glancing at Grace. "Oh. Um, me and Trent are having some problems with your homework that we were kinda' hoping you would help us with. We think it's an Elsasaurus, but we can't quite be sure."

Grace watched Tommy's face which had been a mask of confusion, light up suddenly into comprehension.

"Well I guess I can help you guys if you're struggling." He turned to Grace apologetically. "I'm sorry can we talk later? You know duty calls and all that!" He all but ran out of the door before she could even reply.

"Yeah," She said to the empty room. "It's good to see that you're so dedicated to their learning. It wasn't really that important."

She sighed feeling suddenly restless and wished she'd taken up kick boxing. _Where had that come from?_

_**A/N** Sorry it's so short but it seemed like a good place to stop. Next chapter's coming soon._


	4. A Test of Faith 1

**Chapter 4 – A test of faith 1**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers but they own me. I confess; they have stolen my soul…

**The first in a series of chapters in which the Rangers must put their faith in each other, namely Grace.**

_**I'm so sorry it's taken ages to update guys but with exams coming up I'm busy, busy busy! Hope you like xxx**_

Tommy's melancholy thoughts were banished when he saw Conner and Ethan fighting the Tyrannadrones, and Trent facing down Elsa. He rushed to help Trent who had just been knocked to the floor. "Thanks," He gasped, "She's taken some sort of power boost and now I can't seem to break her guard!"

Elsa gave a loud cackle at the sight of Trent and Tommy huddled on the ground. "You think this is tough?" She shrieked. "How about we spread the power and make it a little fairer!" She threw out her sword and blue lightning crackled down its length and shot towards the drones until each glowed blue. The blast of energy knocked the other three rangers to the ground, sending Tommy and Trent running to help them.

Elsa had disappeared leaving the drones to take over, a prospect that none of them were finding particularly comforting. "It looks like four against one." Kira groaned. "Great," Said Conner "They don't sound like such great odds, how about we call the bet off and go home?" He turned hopefully to the others, only to receive a smack around the head from Ethan. "I think we're just gonna' have to go for it guys." Trent said, pulling himself and leaping back into the fray, the others following close behind.

All too soon they found themselves in deep trouble; Trent was steadily becoming exhausted; his fight with Elsa had left him feeling drained. Kira stayed with him but was finding it hard to support herself and Trent. "Come on Trent, you just have to keep going. We can beat them they're still only drones!"

Trent tried to help her but just felt as though his limbs were blocks of concrete, he hated that she had to do this for him; he should be taking care of her not the other way round! Hearing her cry out he swung around to see three tyrannodrones bearing down on her whilst another had its arms around her neck. "Kira!" With a roar of rage he dived into the three, knocking them to the ground, before vaulting over them to throw a punch in the other's face.

Ethan watched as Dr.O swung a drone around by its tail and neck releasing it so suddenly that it flew through the air and knocked another four over. "Nice!" He said to himself; it seemed Dr.O wasn't losing it after all. Conner's yell of pain pulled him back to the fight making him release the drone he had held in a stranglehold. It slipped from his arms on to the ground in a limp pile but he gave it a kick for good measure.

Conner had had his arms grabbed by two of the drones and the third had kicked him, missing his head but landing a foot upon his shoulder. Pain slammed through him and he yelled, he was however dropped as a flash of blue entered his vision and Ethan appeared meting out blows to any got in his way Another flash occurred this time green, and the drones disappeared into the invisiportal.

Tommy watched the four teenagers pick themselves up slowly; Trent was leaning on Kira for support and Conner was lying on the ground clutching his shoulder.

"You okay guys?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah Dr.O, apart from having our butts kicked." Ethan was the only one to reply.

Tommy hauled Conner to his feet and gently checked his shoulder.

"It doesn't seem to be dislocated but I can tell you're going to have a nice bruise on that. Your powers will make sure you heal faster but I'd expect some pain if I were you."

"Pain?" Conner groaned. "Yep, definitely feeling some pain."

"Tell me about it." Replied Trent ruefully, I haven't felt like this since the first time I morphed.

"Well this is not going to help you guys but I'm afraid lunch finished five minutes ago so you all have to go back to school and just pray Principal Randall doesn't catch you." Tommy couldn't help but smile as the teens groaned at his words.

"Was it just me or did that seem too easy?" Kira said suddenly.

"Easy?" Trent and Conner chorused.

"Yeah, I mean weren't they winning? It just seems a little odd that they'd just go."

"Kira's right." Tommy said with a nod of his head. "Why would they leave when they were winning? I think Mezagog's up to something; this morning with Zeltrax was too easy as well, like the fighting was a test. Something's not right."

"Do you think they were a distraction?" Ethan asked.

Tommy shook his head. "I don't know, I really don't."

"Trent?" A voice broke through his dreams and he lifted his head to discover himself slumped over his desk in an empty classroom. He looked up blearily to see his history teacher stood over him, a worried expression on her face.

"Oh man, I'm sorry I just…" he tailed off dejectedly as he realized he didn't have an excuse, or at least not one he could tell her.

"It's okay Trent." She interrupted. "Well okay you're missing out but I'm more worried about you for the moment; this is the second time this week you've fallen asleep in my class and you were late getting here. Is everything okay with you at the moment?"

"Yeah," Trent replied hurriedly. "It's just been a really long week that's all." _How am I supposed to explain that the reason I fell asleep is that I'm a power ranger and I seriously got my butt kicked an hour ago by some powered up dino freaks? _

"Is everything okay at home?" She asked still looking worried.

"Yeah, fine." _Oh that's another interesting story. My father is the ruler of the powered up dino freaks._

Grace watched as his face took on a momentarily blank look; he was obviously not telling the truth but he looked so tired she couldn't press him to tell her.

"I'm just tired that's all, you know with work and school. It's just that there's a lot expected from me and I want to do the best I can. I don't want to disappoint my father." _Where did that come from and why am I telling her? I seriously need some sleep._

"You know if you ever need to talk about anything you can come to me." She said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Trent felt a warm tingle where her hand had been and wondered if she'd touched one of his numerous bruises.

"I know," He said, and he really thought he did; she seemed to inspire confidence. "Thanks Miss Peyton." He walked towards the door, ready to find Kira and the others for their free period.

"Grace." Her voice stopped him. "You guys can call me Grace, Miss Peyton makes me uncomfortable!" She wrinkled her nose with distaste and then smiled when he nodded and left. She sat behind her desk and rubbed her neck. She was sure she was coming down with something; she'd had a headache since she'd spoken with Tommy before lunch and now she felt as though every muscle in her body had turned to stone. Damn, sorting out people's problems was obviously hard work.

Trent felt great. His muscles had relaxed and he no longer felt so tired; perhaps Kira had been right, even talking about it helped. Speaking of which…

_**A/N** Again its short but I hope you enjoyed it! Oh and it was my first fight scene and I'm not entirely convinced I'm writing it very well, if anyone has any advice it will be received gratefully! xxx_


	5. A Test of Faith 2

**Chapter 5 – A test of faith 2**

"Hey Trent." Despite her smile Kira sounded tired and looked a little wary of him. He knew she was thinking of yesterday when he had brushed her off. He felt guilty about that but he had needed to say it, he was tired of pretending everything was alright and every one treading on egg shells around him. Still, it had been unfair to take it out on her since she'd only been trying to help.

"Hey Kira. Um, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about the um, about what happened earlier."

"It's okay." She replied hurriedly. "I understand Trent, I mean I can't know what you're going through but I do understand and I just wanted you to know that I was there…you know if you needed me."

Kira's heart fluttered wildly when he smiled at her and she felt better than she had in days. He didn't hate her! She quickly flicked back to the conversation when she realized he was still talking.

"It's just the whole being evil thing really complicated matters, I felt bad because I'd betrayed you guys but I couldn't stop myself. That just made it worse though because it felt more like my fault, like I wasn't strong enough to control myself."

"I understand that Trent, and you have to know that none of us blame you." She hesitated and looked at him anxiously. "Have you considered talking to Dr.O, I mean he'd understand better than anyone?"

Trent automatically opened his mouth to say no, but suddenly closed it. Maybe she was right, after all Dr.O had been an evil ranger at one point, but that had been a spell surely his own experience had been completely different, hadn't it?

Kira watched his shifting expressions apprehensively. She hadn't been sure whether to mention it but the thought had occurred to her when Dr. Oliver had apologized for letting them down. Trent was always apologizing for his past actions even though he could have done nothing to stop them, and she had wondered suddenly whether her teacher was still haunted by his own actions. She wanted someone to tell Trent that the shame and guilt he felt would fade, but what if it never did?

"Maybe." Trent replied suddenly. "I guess he would understand more than anyone else would, I just…I just don't like talking about it that's all."

Kira smiled encouragingly and decided it was time to change the topic. "I have a free period now, um do you want to come and get some lunch with me?"

"Weren't you going somewhere?" Trent asked her, nodding at the essay she held in her hands.

She had been going to see Miss Peyton, but seeing as Trent and she were speaking again she decided it could wait.

"I'll go later," She said quickly. "Besides I'm starving aren't you?"

Trent laughed and nodded, following her down the corridor and smiling at her bright mindless chatter.

Grace was sure half of her students were dying; they all seemed exhausted and unable to hold themselves upright. The boy stood in front of her was dressed in his usual red with his floppy hair falling into his unusually pale face. He looked awful, as though he hadn't slept in weeks and his face had a slightly pinched look as though he were in pain. She probably looked no better though, she was sure she was coming down with something…

Conner that was his name; she smiled happy that she had remembered his name especially when she had so many to learn. He was the one that liked sports, especially football, she always saw him on the field playing. The smile quickly turned into a frown when he handed over the assignment she had set and she instantly recognized the untidy scrawl and the amount of scribbled out mistakes on his work. This was the boy who usually handed everything late and it was always smudged because he'd done it minutes before it was due to be handed in.

Grace smiled at him anyway after all he had handed it on time, and because he looked half dead like he'd been in a fight and been badly beaten.

"Hey Conner!" A yell caused them both to turn, only to see a football flying through the air. Conner managed to catch it clumsily with one arm but instantly dropped it again as his face twisted in pain.

"Nathan Daniels!" She winced at the sound of her own yell; she hated shouting at people but footballs weren't allowed to be kicked in the corridors and besides Conner just looked like he had been hit with a hammer.

"Sorry Miss!" Nathan called back, but he was already jogging down the corridor.

Grace sighed and turned back to Conner to see him massaging his shoulder, she caught sight of a bruise beneath his hand.

"How did you get that?" She asked moving his hand to get a better look.

Conner sighed. _Great that's all I need, a teacher to ask me questions about whether I'm being abused at home!_

"Oh, that's just from football practice. I tried this new trick out and I fell over. It's nothing serious."

"It looks awful." She said in disbelief, "It must hurt like hell!" Conner looked up in surprise at that but gave a hiss of pain as she touched it.

"Sorry!" She said quickly pulling her hand back and looking apologetic. Conner rubbed his hand over it again; now it felt weird and tingly. "You should probably go and see the nurse about that; it looks really swollen it could be dislocated."

"It's not." Conner replied without thinking, after all Dr.O had checked it out right after…_Ah. _"Coach had a look at it." He added hurriedly.

"Well," She said slowly, looking skeptical. "If you're sure he knows what he's doing." She paused and rubbed a hand across her forehead feeling suddenly quite sick.

Conner frowned at her. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes!" She replied with a smile. "I just think I'm coming down with something that's all, it's probably just a cold."


	6. A Test of Faith 3

**Chapter 6 – A test of faith 3**

Disclaimer: don't own Power Rangers, but I'm still dreaming…

**Third in series. Bear with me as I hop from one character and place to the next I hope it still makes sense! The idea is to fade in and out of each conversation and gain some insight as to how some of them are feeling.**

Trent stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure if he wanted to go in and talk to the tall man who stood staring out of the window. Kira had told him Dr. Oliver would be the best person to talk to about his problems; after all he would understand better than most. Trent knew it was logical but it still felt awkward; Tommy might not want to talk about it, being evil wasn't an easy thing to come to terms with but then he supposed Tommy had had years to forget.

He took a deep breath and walked in, making enough noise so that Tommy would know he was there. Tommy turned.

"Dr.O, can I talk to you?"

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Tommy watched the students sat at the benches talking and laughing and couldn't help but remember when he had done the same with his own friends. He missed them for some reason, not that he didn't often think of them, but for some reason they had been playing on his mind lately.

He'd been feeling odd lately, old and worn down. He couldn't be sure now whether he was a good leader or even a good ranger, he had always been forgetful but it seemed worse than ever and his mistakes were putting people in danger. Today for example he had failed to protect the team from a defeat at the hands of the drones, for all he knew it could have been the end of their powers; a thought that played constantly at the back of his mind. It could happen at any moment and be gone within an instant, throughout his time as a ranger those moments had occurred but none echoed so clearly as the time he had nearly destroyed the rangers for good…

"Dr.O, can I talk to you?" Tommy turned to see Trent stood in the door looking anxious. He'd had a feeling this talk had been coming.

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Kira knocked on the door of the history classroom and walked in when Grace looked up and gave her at tired smile.

"What can I do for you?" She said as Kira approached her desk.

"I brought the assignment for you; I wanted to give it to you 'cause I'm kinda worried that it's gone wrong."

Grace smiled at that and took it from her, quickly skimming it and then laying it on the desk. "It looks fine to me Kira; you should just have more confidence in your work!"

"I guess," Kira replied slowly. "It's just that I'm struggling at the moment, you know with all my school work; there just seems to be a lot of it and it seems to affect my concentration. So I thought my work probably doesn't seem that good, like I haven't put enough effort into it, and I just wanted you to know why."

Grace smiled at her again and nodded understandingly. "It seems to be getting to a lot of people at the moment, they all seem so tired, in fact I think even I'm beginning to lose the will to work!" She shook the bottle of tablets for emphasis.

Kira nodded her thanks and began to walk to the door.

"How are things with you and Trent?" Kira turned and stared at Grace, her face burning with surprise and embarrassment.

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"Sure!" Tommy said and ushered Trent to a seat by the window. "What can I do-" Tommy paused and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"No, I know why you're here Trent, I suppose I was expecting you to come and talk to me." Tommy sighed and then caught sight of Trent's face.

"Is it really so surprising? I'm surprised you haven't come sooner; I am the one who would understand better than anyone what you feel."

He took a deep breath, ready to lie, ready to make Trent feel better about everything, but catching sight of his face he suddenly realized he couldn't. Maybe in the long run he would regret it, but someone had to be honest with him because no one had with him and it still hurt, even now.

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"But sometimes he's so difficult to understand!"

Kira waved her hands exasperatedly and paced up and down the classroom, a bemused

Grace following her progress.

"He blows hot and cold and I mean I know he has problems what with his father and everything but he won't even let me help he just ignores it!"

Grace wanted desperately to laugh, but for the last fifteen minutes Kira had been ranting ever since Grace had asked her how things were going.

Apparently the answer was not very well.

"I mean he's always putting pressure on Trent to do well at absolutely everything, and I mean surely you should _give a guy a break!_ There was that whole thing where he tried to buy Cyberspace from Hayley and it's not as though he's all there anyway-"

Grace shut off the conversation as her mind tried to analyze the last bit of information. What did Kira mean? Anton Mercer always seemed aloof and perhaps even mildly frightening in his quiet threatening way, but calling him crazy? That just seemed a little bizarre.

"Kira all men are like that." Grace interrupted, skipping back to the original thread of the conversation. "Trent probably likes to think that he can do it all on his own, most people are afraid of accepting help, it's just that the male half find it even harder."

"But he's not alone!" Kira said in frustration. "I just wish he'd understand that, we're all there for him and I wish-" She stopped suddenly and blushed.

"You wish what?" Coaxed Grace.

"I wish he'd see me." Kira murmured, and her shoulders slumped dejectedly. "It's like he tries his hardest to ignore me, tries to pretend I'm not there and I'm trying to help."

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"I know everyone's been treading around me like they're on egg shells, and I know they all just want to help but I don't want that; I just want everything to be normal."

Tommy nodded sympathetically. "When it happened to me everyone around me pretended like it _hadn't _happened, they forgave me really quickly. I know it was harder for you because of your dad's involvement, but it was like they all tried to forget and I _couldn't." _

Tommy took a deep breath and held Trent's gaze. "I wish I could tell you that it gets easier Trent but I'd be lying; everyday I see the destruction I wreaked on Angel Grove in my head, and I can still remember the look of fear on my friends' faces when they discovered it was me. I nearly destroyed them Trent-" _Pull yourself together man, this isn't about you don't lose it now_.

"Trent, you never did much damage and you didn't hurt any of us."

"But I fossilized you!" Trent interrupted. "I injured the others and left them without a leader!"

"But you never truly hurt them." Tommy reasoned. "You didn't betray yourself or them because you couldn't control what was happening, and in the end you found a way to free yourself. Now you can cancel out what you did by helping your friends and helping your father; you have people who care for you Trent and they are the people who can make it easier and can help you forget. Maybe you'll always remember and you'll always have regrets and guilt but you will also be safe in the knowledge that you made up for it and you were never to blame."

He placed his hands on Trent's shoulders and gave him a small smile. "I bet your father will feel a lot worse when we pull him out of his own spell. He's going to need you to forgive him and tell him exactly what I'm telling you."

Trent nodded, a new determination rising within him.

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"I see," Grace said with a smile at the still blushing Kira. "Men can never see what's right in front of them Kira, you just have to get used to it and hope for the best."

"What they need," Kira sniffed, trying to hold back the tears. "Is a smack round the head. Sometimes it's hard being the only girl…" She tailed off as she realized Grace wouldn't know what she was talking about.

"I mean in the group of friends I have, and any other girl that comes along is usually one that the boys are interested in. They're not interested in being my friend."

Grace sighed and placed a hand on the tearful girl's shoulder. She didn't know what to say to her and for once didn't know how to comfort; she had the feeling that Kira had held something back, in fact it seemed that all of Kira's friends had secrets.

She closed her eyes to think and immediately wished she hadn't; as a new wave of sickness passed over her and she swayed slightly. She quickly opened her eyes and looked down on the crying girl, she gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"It'll be okay Kira you just have to get through it, there's nothing else to do. You've tried telling Trent that you're there for him and perhaps you're not ready to tell him how you feel but you just have to stick with it."

Kira managed a smile and nodded, wiping her tears away ashamed at crying. "I guess I wish it was easier that's all."

Grace nodded and again wished she hadn't; she swayed again and put out a hand to steady herself, she braced herself against the desk and rubbed her head.

"Are you okay Grace?" Kira sounded worried, so she opened her eyes and tried a smile.

"Yeah I'm fine, it's nothing just a headache. I think I've caught something, I'm just not feeling …"

Her vision began to curl at the edges and Kira's worried voice faded.

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Tommy watched Trent carefully but was relieved to see a calm expression on his face, one that hadn't been there for a while. It was clear that the truth was perhaps not what Trent wanted to hear but was what he had needed to hear, Tommy just wished someone had done the same for him.

They'd been talking for a while now and he had even managed to get him to smile and laugh a few times. Tommy decided to keep an eye on him nonetheless after all Trent had a bad habit of keeping things close to his chest, only Kira could get him to open up…

"Dr.O!" Tommy barely recognized Kira's voice; it sounded panicked and upset. She ran into the class breathless and suspiciously tearstained. His Ranger training instantly kicked in and he was immediately on the defensive.

"Whoa, what's wrong Kira?"

"It's Grace, Miss Peyton she collapsed! We were talking-" Kira got no further as Tommy charged past her with Trent following close behind.

His mind was whirling as he ran to the history class at the other end of the corridor. He could barely work out why he was so worried about her; he'd be worried about anyone who suddenly collapsed but now his fear was some what irrational.

_Calm down man, she'll be fine stop worrying._ His pace quickened.

_Today is not such a good day; first mistakes, depression, Trent, and now this._

He charged into the classroom and immediately knelt by the prone figure on the floor; he quickly checked her pulse which was faint and thready, but present nonetheless. He took a deep breath and managed a sigh of relief.

_She's not dead, so pull it together._

He lifted her so that her shoulders were cradled in his arms and pushed her hair from her face. He gently stroked her cheek with his knuckles.

"Grace?"

_**A/N See, this one was longer! Hope you liked it.**_


	7. The start of something

**Chapter 7 – The start of something**

Disclaimer: Nope still dreaming…

So glad you guys liked it, I wasn't too sure in case people found it too confusing. I'm really happy now; you guys cheered me up because I'm not really that well at the moment and writing my fics. is about the only thing I can bear to do so you're pretty lucky coz nothing else is getting done!

Here's the next chapter and although I am not above groveling… see Chylea, you didn't have to beg!

**The start of several things actually; a ranger, a power and a love? I guess you'll just have to read on to find out…**

Grace felt warm, warm and comforted for the first time in a long while. She was vaguely aware that she hurt all over but that was somehow far away, as though she were distant from her body. Someone was holding her, that felt good, to be held again. It had been such a long time since anyone had just held her and made her feel safe.

"Grace?" Someone was calling her name, calling her back to the pain and reluctantly she followed their voice.

It was somewhat familiar; gentle and yet deep, she remembered who it was.

Her eyes flickered open and she felt the brush of a hand at her cheek. Tommy smiled down at her and she thought he said hello, but all she could be sure of was that she hurt and that now she was embarrassed. A very attractive man was holding her in his arms and she was lying on the floor staring up at him like an idiot.

It was funny how your best dream could become your worst nightmare…_Oh Crap._

He'd driven her home. She had lain back in the car glad of the cool breeze. Actually he'd even carried her to the car much to her embarrassment, but after all her legs hadn't seemed to know what to do with themselves, and standing hadn't been an option.

He had wanted to take her to the hospital but she had insisted other wise; she hated hospitals and she would have felt stupid when they'd have told her that it was merely a bad cold. She already knew that… hopefully.

They reached her small house all too quickly and when he tried to lift her out of the car embarrassment kicked her into action.

"Honestly Tommy I'm feeling much better now, it was probably just a dizzy spell that's all. I haven't been feeling too hot lately but I'm fine now!"

Tommy frowned at her suspiciously and wished again that he had ignored her and taken her to hospital. He sighed however and opened the door only assisting her with a hand to help her step down.

Her legs however wouldn't comply and would only misbehave, for no sooner had she placed both feet on the ground her legs gave out, causing her to fall against Tommy.

She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and wished she'd just stayed unconscious; he just laughed and scooped her up before she could say no.

He carried her up the stairs and found her bedroom where he deposited her on the bed. She looked pale and tired which was worrying but it was obvious that she hated his fussing and decided he should probably leave her alone.

Yet for some reason he was reluctant; he tried to justify it as being dangerous to leave an invalid on their own, but somehow that argument seemed fake.

He looked over at the bed and smiled when he saw that she had already fallen asleep, so he pulled off her shoes and placed the sheets over her, feeling a warmth inside when she smiled in her sleep.

He stared at her for a few moments trying to decide what to do; he couldn't just leave her alone in case she had a relapse or was very ill and had to be taken to hospital. He would stay until she woke and make sure she was okay.

He nodded decisively and made his way quietly downstairs absently scratching his bandaged palm.

It was a small house but very pretty; it was though she had tried to make an effort in making it seem more homely. Every where was simply decorated not unlike his own house but she had hung pictures up to add bright splashes of colour to the pale walls, and there were several pots of flowers.

Tommy decided that it had that 'woman's touch' that the films often talked about, but at the same time it seemed rather forced as though Grace had somehow felt uncomfortable in her own home.

He sat on the sofa with a sigh and wondered how he would pass the time.

If he had been upstairs he would have seen the green glow emanating from Grace's bedroom…

Meanwhile Conner was staring at the mirror in shock. He twisted this way and that his gaze fixed upon one spot; his shoulder.

Dr.O had said it would heal fast but his tone had suggested that fast did not mean within six or seven hours, it really was a miraculous recovery. Ethan had just shrugged it off as the intervention of the Ranger powers and then gone back to his computer game. Conner was not entirely convinced that this was the case, and what about Trent? That guy had looked like death after the fight with the drones and then only an hour later had made a miracle recovery. Then there was Kira, she had been badly beaten by the drones and had looked like she was ready to sleep for a life time but when he had seen her at the end of the day, and she had explained where Dr.O was, she had looked absolutely fine. Ethan had even told him that she had cried, something Kira _never_ did, how could someone look so happy after that?

No one thought he was clever; he was just some dumb jock who thought of nothing but girls and soccer. Everyone thought he was superficial and idiotic, all the way through his life it had been the same; but hiding who you were and pretending didn't help surely? Perhaps it was corny but his parents had always told him to be who he was and he stuck to that, so why wasn't it good enough for everyone else?

Conner was not credited with brains and he knew that, but something suspicious was going on and he'd work it out and show the others that he was just as smart as them…


	8. The problem with Ethan

**Chapter 8 – The problem with Ethan**

Disclaimer: I think the dreams are becoming more vivid…

Thanks to GinaStar for the get well soon, am feeling much better…just in time for exams hooray! Chylea you are very right begging does help but I promise I'm not a nasty person really it's just nice to be flattered once in a while…so I hope you enjoy! I'm sorry Zeopurple, you're unlikely to find out what the green glow was about just yet!

**In this chapter we see what's bothering Ethan, although his problem isn't as serious as the others the fact that it's his problem makes it important – hope you get what I mean! Let's see what Mezagog and his cronies are up to…**

Elsa paced the floor in front of Mezagog and tried to explain to him what she had been intending to happen to the Power Rangers when she had created the power boost and left the drones to work.

The dinosaur hybrid in question was sat like a menacing shadow on his throne; he was staring at the floor and not particularly paying any attention to the useless waste of space in front of him. It wasn't that her plan had been flawed, in fact for Elsa it had actually been very good and she had even managed to out do Zeltrax's pathetic attempt earlier, although the stupid piece of tin claimed it had been test.

Mezagog hated secrets, almost as much as he hated the pathetic man he shared his body with; Anton Mercer struggled all the time and it was really becoming most annoying.

"Master." Zeltrax stalked in with all the confidence of a man who knew he was about to be rewarded. "I have some excellent news for you, and I know you are going to like it."

Mezagog considered this for a moment.

"Speak." He rasped impatiently.

"For some days now I have been tracking the source of some unknown energy source, a source I had at first believed to belong to another Zord." He paused for dramatic effect and elbowed past a glowering Elsa.

"I was however mistaken. It seems that this source was one of much greater power, and an opportunity my lord, I believe it is a new Dino Gem!"

"Can you be sure of this?" Mezagog interrupted. "I am not interested in another failure, be sure you do not disappoint me."

Zeltrax bowed at the threat and hurriedly assured his master that failure was not imminent. "I am very sure master and it would appear that it is undiscovered by the Power Rangers!"

"Then why have you not collected it?" Mezagog asked sensing that there was a problem.

"Although the Rangers do not have it, it would seem that another has found it and removed – "

Mezagog pushed himself out of his chair and gripped Zeltrax by the neck. "Who?" He rasped.

"I do not know sire," choked Zeltrax. "But a single person who doesn't understand the power they have will be easy to track and capture."

Mezagog released him. "You had better hope so, for your sake."

Ethan stared at the white door in front of him apprehensively. The bunches of flowers clamped in his sweaty palm were beginning to wilt, a mixture of white daisies and pink carnations.

He didn't really know what he was doing there after all Cassidy wasn't actually expecting him and he was kind of new at this whole 'wooing' thing. He hadn't been able to ask the others for help either; after all Conner would have just laughed, Dr.O was having serious problems and Kira and Trent looked like they needed to be left well alone.

No, he was on his own and now it was time to be…_Ethan, the love machine._

"Who am I kidding?" He muttered to himself as he rang the doorbell. "My ranger power isn't the power of sex magnetism."

The door swung open at that point and a slightly confused looking Cassidy stared at him like he was a stray dog. With fleas.

"Um…Hi Cassidy." Ethan said slowly, his nerves hitting an all time high. "I got these for you." He shoved the flowers at her and tried a smile, he had the feeling it was making him look like some sort of maniac.

"They're dying." Cassidy said quite suddenly. Ethan stared back blankly, his mind racing with possibilities. He'd been practicing his responses to her reaction all night, he'd thought she'd say thank you, or confess her undying love for him. _'They're dying.'_ Was not in his vocabulary.

"Oh come on Cassidy." Said a placating voice from behind the pink clad blonde. "Put them in some water and they'll soon perk up!" That voice seemed to hold a world weariness that suggested it was talking to a child and was used to such reactions.

Ethan raised an embarrassed hand in recognition to the boy; Devin smiled ruefully back.

"Look Devin!" Said Cassidy brightly, shoving the flowers against Devin's chest. "It's Evan!"

"Um, it's Ethan." Devin and Ethan said in unison.

**A/N Okay so it's short but don't worry I'll put another chapter up right after to make up for it. Besides Ethan's problem is a comedy factor that's always best in short sketches! As always please read and review! Xxx**


	9. Orphans

Disclaimer: Are dreams and fantasies the same thing..?

**This chapter is supposed to allow you some insight into Grace's past life. That's the problem with creating a new character; they cannot be fully developed because only the creator can see who they are and what they're like. The power rangers featured on TV are seen and developed in front of everyone, they are easier to empathize with, and hopefully this chapter allows you to do at least some of that. Xxx**

**Chapter 9 – Orphans**

Tommy glanced over at Grace as she stood by the kitchen counter; she still looked pale but she had gotten crotchety when he'd made a fuss and told her to go back to bed and so he had relented.

"You okay?" He asked for the umpteenth time.

Grace gave a world weary sigh and rolled her eyes at him, a teasing smile upon her face. "Yes mother, if I start to feel worse I'll sit down-"

"So you don't feel so good?" Tommy interrupted quickly and then mentally kicked himself. _Come on man, like she says you're not her mother. What the hell is wrong with you? Get a grip._

She laughed at that but the look she shot him suggested he should stop sometime soon.

What was the guy's problem? She had felt privileged that he had deemed it necessary to stay and keep an eye on her, but now she was starting to think it was more for his own peace of mind; she just wished he'd leave. His constant worrying and fussing was starting to put her on edge and she'd had some really weird dreams; all about fighting strange monsters and everything had been coloured green. Next she was going to start thinking she was a power ranger, which wasn't unusual amongst Reefside's youth. She smiled at that ridiculous thought and fingered the necklace she wore, the green stone dangling from the chain.

She knew she should probably tell Tommy what she had found, for all she knew it was what he had been looking for, but somehow she just couldn't bring herself to do it; it felt like it belonged to her in some irrational way. She tucked back under her clothes as he turned and brought her a cup of coffee.

She wasn't a big coffee drinker but he'd looked positively terrified when she had told him she didn't like orange juice or tea; she had thought it best just to say yes when the coffee was offered. He had looked so relieved she'd wanted to laugh; he was obviously into coffee.

She caught sight of his bandaged hand as he handed her the cup.

"How does your hand feel?"

Tommy looked down at his hand and absently scratched it. "Fine, it's just a little itchy that's all."

"You never did tell me how you managed it." She remarked casually as she blew on her drink. Immediately Tommy was on the defensive.

"It was nothing; I told you I broke some test tubes."

"Yes," She murmured. "You told me you lost your concentration but you never told me what had distracted you."

Tommy shifted uncomfortably under the piercing green eyes. For some reason he felt terrible for lying to her, she seemed to have this way of making everyone want to tell the truth, even the students at Reefside High had found themselves revealing things and it was usually hard to get the teenagers to open up.

"I was just tired." He said eventually. "I haven't been sleeping well lately that's all." Well it was a sort of truth; he hadn't, he kept dreaming that he'd gotten everyone killed because he was too old. When it wasn't that dream he was reliving the damage he had caused as the evil green ranger.

She sighed inwardly. Every question she asked he had an answer to but it wasn't the one she wanted to hear; he was clever and evaded her questions with suitable answers that gave nothing away. In her experience that took a lot of practice to perfect, years in fact, and she had a feeling he'd used those years well… "What do you dream about?" She said quite suddenly, catching him off guard.

"Nothing." He said hurriedly. He closed his eyes as he suddenly realized what an idiotic answer that was; after all he had been the one to say he hadn't been sleeping well…_hang on._ He hadn't said anything about dreams.

She smiled enquiringly at him, a look that suggested she knew more than he was giving away.

"How do you do that?" He said with a shake of his head.

Grace shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. "Practice I suppose, I guess I just read people well; I've always been able to do it."

"Who did you practice on?"

Grace's eyes seemed to slide out of focus for a moment and he saw her body clench. "My friends." She replied tightly.

He could tell he had hit a nerve but he didn't want to back down, in fact her reaction made him more curious; why would friends create a response like that? In his experience it was something to smile about.

"Didn't your friends mind?" He enquired casually, pretending not to notice something was wrong.

"No." She replied shortly. He raised an eyebrow at that, for once Grace was giving nothing away.

"Tell me about them." He coaxed.

"There's nothing to tell!" She exclaimed, backing away from him as though he was an advancing predator.

"Now who's evading the question?" Tommy replied. "Surely your friends weren't that bad, or were they the sort you have to keep secret because your parents disapproved?" He said teasingly.

She gave a sardonic laugh. "I would have needed parents for that." It caught Tommy by surprise and he instantly wished he hadn't said anything; he was starting to get a head ache from all this mental kicking.

_Shit._ "Oh man I'm sorry Grace." He put a hand on her arm as an apology.

She shrugged. "It's not your fault it's just not something I advertise that's all. My friends were other abandoned kids and orphans and they were who I practiced on." She took a deep breath as though it were something she had been longing to say for a long time. "I guess that's how I got so good at reading people; because I understood what they were going through and I could get them to talk, I knew what to say that's all."

Tommy stepped forwards and rubbed her arm comfortingly. "I understand Grace, I was a foster kid too, I was lucky though; I got a good family in the end and I went to live in Angel Grove with the Oliver's."

Grace looked up in surprise at that revelation, it made sense she supposed. Why else would she have understood him, been able to read him so easily? Besides they got on well together; kindred spirits.

"Unfortunately," Grace continued. "I spent most of the time in a home, it wasn't until I was finishing school that I found a family. Most families want young children to adopt but the Peyton's had fostered before, they take on older kids so you might say I've had hundreds of brothers and sisters."

"Do they still do it?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, whenever I go back home there's a new one; it's not so bad you get some good kids and we all stay in touch my parents just give them a start in life."

"What about your real parents?" He asked tentatively.

Grace shrugged. "The Peyton's are my family, the only parents I've ever known and that suits me fine."

There was silence as the two stood together in the kitchen, and it was a while before either of them realized Tommy had an arm about her shoulders and was holding her close. Grace looked up at him green eyes meeting brown.

Tommy studied her face and then dropped his gaze to her eyes, he leaned in. She was sure he was going to kiss her…

**A/N Tee hee! Bet you hate me for that but I hope you liked it anyway. As always please read and review, and who knows what will happen next! Xxx**


	10. SURPRISE!

Disclaimer: When I dream, I dream of wondrous things.

To wake is to find harsh reality.

To find dirt where there were flowers.

Where I am bound by rules…

(As well as legal issues and copyright experts!)

_** Damn.**_

**Chapter 10 – SURPRISE!**

**I hope all you guys find this chapter funny because it sounded funny in my head and I can only hope it's the same on paper! There are too many moments like this in real life…**

_So close he could feel the ghosting of her breath, could almost feel her lips beneath his. Her eyes fluttered close and so did his…_

"JESUS!" He yelped and was sure he jumped five feet up in the air. A sharp shock emanated from his morpher and traveled up his arm leaving pain and numbness in its wake. He shook his wrist swearing under his breath and looked up apologetically at Grace who was stood watching, from what he could tell she didn't know whether to be frightened or worried; she certainly looked confused.

He sighed. Something was obviously wrong, something that needed Ranger attention.

"I'm so sorry Grace, I've um…just remembered that I have to do something, well I mean it's obviously important you know otherwise…I mean no man would just…well, want to and then have to um…" He realized he was waving his hands erratically and wanting to do something with them, pushed a hand through his hair frantically. "I have to go." He finished lamely and then wished the ground would open up and swallow him.

Grace was stood with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes were narrowed slightly and her face suggested she was trying to understand what he was talking about, and not having much luck.

"Um, okay." She said slowly.

"I'll see myself out." Tommy said and all but ran from the house. There was silence…

"Well that went well." Grace said to the empty room.

Tommy drove to his house like a mad man swearing all the while; he hadn't known his offensive vocabulary was so extensive. He screeched onto the drive way and barged into the house and down the steps to the command centre. "There had better be a damn good explanation for this or someone is going to die." He announced to the gathered teens.

"I'm back!" A cheery voice replied and Tommy turned to see Hayley grinning at him.

Tommy simply stood not knowing what to say; this was turning out to be one of the worst days of his life. He scrunched his hands in his hair and tried not to make it obvious that he wanted to tear it out. "You're back!" He repeated, trying to keep his voice normal. "Oh good!"

"Are you okay Dr.O?" Kira asked, looking worried at his behavior.

"Me?" Tommy exclaimed. "Oh I'm fine, I'm just great!" He turned back to Hayley and tried to stop the rising hysteria in his voice. "And the electrocution was in aid of..?"

"Oh!" Said Hayley excitedly. "Me and Billy were trying out a new idea; how to make the morphers less conspicuous, you know instead of ringing and announcing themselves to everyone. We thought it might vibrate or something, like a phone, so I thought I'd try it out!" There was a few moments silence before Tommy spoke. "I see," He said lightly, a manic smile on his face. "Will you all just excuse me for a moment?"

He went back upstairs into the main house and upon entering the kitchen began to rifle through the cupboards. He went to pour himself a small glass of whiskey and upon second thought took it straight from the bottle, throwing it back and barely noticing the burn.

"Well," He heard Kira say doubtfully. "I wouldn't say it vibrated exactly."

Tommy stared at the ceiling as he lay on his bed in the dark. If he remembered it correctly Conner had finished her sentence by saying;

"More like redirected the city's power supply to our arms."

Conner had such a way with words.

He still couldn't believe the timing; he had been so close and then been thwarted. _Damn. _He couldn't really understand why he had gotten so worked up after all it was the first situation he had been in with Grace and though he had recognized the attraction he hadn't really thought to do anything about it. It seemed however that his brain was the only part of his body thinking that, and the rest of him was clamoring for her attention.

After all they had a lot in common didn't they? They got along well so why shouldn't he like her? _It's been a long time bro, I mean you've had relationships but the last truly serious one was with Kat. _Perhaps it was time for another one. He just wondered how the hell he was going to explain himself to Grace.

**A/N **_**Okay, funny? Not funny? Let me know and next we'll see the plot thicken and Grace discovers she can kick ass…**_


	11. The Green in Me

Disclaimer: Got my dreams…who am I kidding it's not enough!

**Chapter 11 – The Green in me**

**Tommy's problems are still haunting him, including the words "The Green in me" but they are about to take on a whole new meaning for Grace…**

Grace rolled her shoulders, she still ached but she'd felt better after taking the day off. The principal had not been very happy about it, but Grace wasn't particularly worried since the principal was never happy.

She still wasn't sleeping properly though; her dreams were a strange mix of nightmarish green monsters and fights, and she couldn't be sure if they were better or worse than the other ones… They were the ones that floated in and out of head as a mixture of memories; like Tommy brushing her cheek with his knuckles; that had a disturbing habit of occurring again and again. When it wasn't that it was the promise of his kiss, except that he always ran away and then she turned into one of the green monsters; definitely a good reason to run away.

The moment itself had confused her completely; _I mean he seemed to want to kiss me but the next thing I know he's coming up with some sort of lame excuse to leave! How is a girl supposed to guess what that means, does he like me or not?_

She sighed, irritated with herself; she was acting like a love sick teenager.

She looked in the mirror and sighed again; there was nothing particularly noticeable about her, unless you counted the color of her hair. There was nothing exciting about her, she was average height and average build with some curves she had to admit she was relatively proud of, but there was nothing striking at all. Perhaps Tommy had realized that, but the situation had been quite tense. Perhaps he'd just been caught up in it and hadn't really known what to do; running away with crap excuses could have been how he dealt with it.

Damn she was sick of rejection, but it was her fault she supposed; just when everything had been going so well for her she went and messed it up over a guy, _a gorgeous, funny, intelligent…_no, just some random dumbass guy she hardly knew. God she was so foolish, she just couldn't be happy with what she had, she had to go and get greedy.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

She clenched her fists and closed her eyes angrily. She couldn't just forget about it that quickly; sure he was just a guy but seriously who wouldn't like him? Why couldn't she just be brave enough for once and reach out and grab what she wanted? Why did she always have to be so afraid of what might happen, why did it always have to be bad? Why couldn't something good happen, no, why couldn't she make it happen?

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" That's when it happened.

She felt a strange surge of energy all the way up her body and felt hot and cold all at once. She felt cocooned and sort of safe, like nothing could touch her. And powerful; wow, she felt pretty damn good.

She slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she registered was that everything was much darker, like looking through sunglasses; the next was her reflection in the mirror.

"Well… shit"

_He was destroying the city; buildings were collapsing beneath the Dragonzord's feet and tail. He was laughing and laughing uncontrollably, he was evil and all he could do was watch himself as he destroyed everything._

"_Tommy!" The yell cut through the air and both of him turned to see the other rangers running towards him. The Tommy in green laughed hysterically but Tommy looked to them desperately._

"_Guys I'm trying so hard to stop but I can't, it's too strong!"_

"_We have to help you bro!" Jason said, clasping his arm._

"_No," He said sadly. "You have to destroy me."_

"_It's not you!" Billy replied in horror. "It's the green ranger inside of you, we can separate you, it'll be okay Tommy."_

_He shook his head. "The green is inside of me Billy, it's a part of me. You have to destroy me." He stepped back giving them an open shot. "Please."_

_Jason stepped forward slowly and raised his Power Sword._

"_I'm sorry bro." _

_It began to emit a beeping noise, and Tommy prepared for the blow…The beeping got louder…_

Tommy slapped the alarm with a groan and rolled back over to sleep again, except the alarm clock came with him and smacked him over the head. With another groan he sat up to work out what was going on; it seemed that the bandage on his hand had gotten caught on the clock and was now wound impossibly into knots around the tuning button. He glared at his hand and then began to struggle with clock and bandage his impatience turned into annoyance until he began to tear the bandage into wispy strips. Eventually it could no longer hold itself together and simply fell away from his palm, leaving it bare; quite bare in fact. So bare that there wasn't even a mark. The alarm clock was tossed over his shoulder and he held his hand closer to the light coming through the window, a crack between the blinds illuminating his palm. He stared at it in shock; it was completely healed as though there had been nothing there in the first place. _Ranger powers, _he told himself. Years as a power ranger had taught him that healing was accelerated and for most of his life he had been injury free he'd almost never had a bruise in his life. The cuts had been deep though, said a little voice in his head, powers would have healed them quickly but after only two days there should still be pink lines where the cuts had been; like healing scars.

The alarm clock chose at that moment to give a dying beep from where it lay in pieces on the floor. _I'm going to be late again._

He didn't have time to work this out now; _I'll have to sort it later._ The communicator on his wrist gave a similar beep. _Much later…_

Grace blinked rapidly and then twisted to have a look herself in the mirror. She was a bloody power ranger; this had to be a joke, a dream…anything other than reality. She was the green power ranger and she hadn't a clue how or why. Remembering something she grabbed the necklace and pulled it from around her neck.

"It can't be this!" But something told her it was.

"I'm not a power ranger," She told it, despite the obvious which was staring at her in the mirror. "I'm not strong, I'm not brave and I sure as hell can't fight! I mean look at me, I couldn't fight a cat let alone a vicious hundred foot monster that can destroy a city!" She sat on her bed and gave a hopeless sigh; as if talking to a stone was going to make it all go away. Everything had been going so well and now it was messed up; not only because of a guy but because now she was dressed in some sort of green lycra.

Her mind quite suddenly stopped whirling and became startlingly clear. Why couldn't she do this? She always thought she was a wimp and so did everyone else so why couldn't she prove them and herself wrong?

_Because they'd take it away from you idiot. _She thought to herself. Those other rangers would discover who she really was and realize she was the wrong choice, they'd take it all away from her just when she had started thinking she could do something with a purpose. She clenched her fists and studied herself in the mirror with a new determination. _They can't take it away if they don't know who I am!_ So she just wouldn't tell them who she was…better than that she could make the disguise complete; then they wouldn't even know she was a woman…

A few rolls of bandages and strategic adjustments later, she stood before the mirror again with a smile of satisfaction on her face. As long as she didn't take off her helmet, and she'd possibly have to deepen her voice when speaking, they would think she was another guy! Feeling giddy with success and her plan she decided to try out a few moves; she nearly scared herself silly when they all came so naturally.

"Anyone would think this suit came with an in-built manual!" She said with a shake of her head in disbelief at her newly acquired skills.

Feeling extra brave she tried out a karate kick. Forgetting she was a lot stronger now she placed too much force into it and she all but flew through the air as her leg shot out. There was a resounding crash and she stood guiltily staring at the mess she had made.

"Damn…seven years bad luck."

**A/N **_**Hope you liked it, I'm not altogether thrilled with it, but I guess I did get writers block half way through it. As always read and review, let me know what you think. Xxx**_


	12. Nightmares can come true

Disclaimer: Make a wish upon a star…

**Well I guess things are going to start getting interesting from here; their problems need solutions and Grace could be that solution for all of them… It may be more complicated than that but I suppose you're just going to have to read on…**

**Chapter 12 – Nightmares can come true…**

Conner yawned as Tommy checked his shoulder; not that there was anything there to check anymore. He had explained this, but Tommy had looked doubtful when he had said that something suspicious was going on. In return Tommy had mentioned his own wound had healed very quickly, for Conner this was just more proof.

Tommy sighed and sat back. "I guess we must have gotten a boost of power after the fight; after all we all healed quickly."

"Yeah," Trent replied. "I felt like crap but by the end of the day I was fine; I even managed to do some extra training in the evening." Kira, who was sat next to him, nodded her head in agreement.

"No," Said Conner, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice. "There is something going on." He turned to Tommy again. "Dr.O have you ever had a power boost before, I mean one that just happened on its own because you needed one?"

Tommy sighed, he wanted to say yes; to stop Conner's 'hunt for the truth' as Ethan had named it. The problem was the only boost he had ever gotten was either from a new power, another ranger or even Zordon himself. He looked over at Hayley and raised an enquiring eyebrow.

"It's possible," She said at last. "I mean your powers are incredibly sensitive to your needs; you use less power for the smaller tasks including everyday ones, and more power when you're in a tight spot. A power boost is the only logical explanation I'm afraid Conner." Seeing his unconvinced frown, she added; "I'm going to do some tests; since I wasn't monitoring the fight I can't know if there was a fluctuation in your powers. I'll run some tests and I'll go through the Power Rangers history to see if anything similar has happened."

Conner supposed it would have to do, after all no one else seemed willing to think any other explanation was possible; at least Hayley was willing to try another theory.

Grace rubbed her back with a groan of satisfaction, having put the last heavy book in the back of her car. She's been feeling less tired lately and figured the powers she now had were giving her a helping hand but even they couldn't save her from the amount of marking she had to do that night.

"So," Came a drawl from behind her. "You're the new one are you?"

Grace whirled round to be confronted with a woman dressed in black. She looked familiar somehow but she couldn't quite place her…

"New one what?" Grace replied with a nervous laugh.

"Don't play smart with me sweetie," Spat the black clad woman. "Don't you know who I am?" Grace had seen her before on TV, she was the one they all called Elsa and it was definitely no secret that she hated the Power Rangers. She felt a small ball of fear in her stomach appear at that thought but somehow managed to stay outwardly calm. She shrugged.

"Not really, I mean I'm not much good at remembering faces."

Elsa gave a short laugh at that but Grace wasn't sure that that meant she had a sense of humour. "I think you're in the wrong line of work then, but I assure you that you'll remember mine when I'm through with you!" Simultaneously she drew an enormous black sword and went into the fighting stance.

Grace felt the words come unbidden to her lips as she grabbed the green stone about her neck.

"Dino Thunder, power up!" She felt the familiar surge of energy run through her and knew that she had morphed into a power ranger. The fight had begun…

The alarms rang shrilly in the command centre and the team ran instantly to the screens Hayley had set up. "It's Elsa." Hayley stated. There was a sudden silence.

"Is that…" Ethan said at last. "Is that another Power Ranger?" They all stared in fascination at the screen in front of them, all except Tommy.

He wasn't seeing the screen anymore; all he could see was a green ranger. A dozen emotions were whirling in his head and all he could focus on was the fact that this new ranger was green.

'_What the hell is going on with you man? How many times do I have to tell you in two weeks to pull yourself together? So it's another green ranger, you never acted like this when Adam became one or even the ones that came after him. You were okay with Trent when he was evil too… you were fine with it so DEAL!' _

_But the timing, he couldn't get over that; what were the chances of another ranger coming along, let alone a green one? It seemed ironic that all he could think of was his evil green counterpart and then quite suddenly one appears from no where. _

'_This one is good, this one isn't evil; see he's fighting Elsa. If he was evil he would be joining Elsa and fighting us.'_

_Tommy wished he could convince himself, but the coincidence was making his head reel. It seemed that his nightmares had come true…_

_He realized they were all staring at him._

"What?" He asked, realizing that they had been talking.

"Are you okay Dr.O?" Kira asked looking concerned.

Before he could answer Ethan said; "How is there another ranger? I mean did you even know about this, is it possible? Man this is sick!" Tommy realized vaguely that Ethan was actually excited about this.

"Er…shouldn't we be helping him?" Trent asked cautiously. "After all he is kinda' on our side."

"Unless it's a trap." Conner said crossing his arms and glaring suspiciously at the fight that was unfolding on screen.

"Who's winning?" Ethan said, ignoring Conner's words.

Hayley waved a hand vaguely at the screen as she watched Tommy. "Neither really, I mean they're both…well I guess the green ranger has a slight upper hand."

Ethan laughed and showed his bias. "Naturally, after all, we rock!"

"I still think we should help." Trent said, glaring at Conner. "He doesn't look evil."

"Yeah," Conner said sarcastically. "We didn't think you looked evil either and look how that turned out." Kira lunged for him angrily, narrowly missing the jock as Trent grabbed her about the waist.

Ethan turned to Conner angrily. "That was low man, I mean haven't you gotten over that yet?"

"It wasn't his fault!" Kira added indignantly.

"Kira," Trent said wearily. "It's not worth it; he's just being pissy because no one will take his 'theory' seriously."

"Now hang on – " Began Conner, but he was cut off by Hayley.

"You guys need to calm down and stop acting like four year olds. You may have just gotten a new team member and let me tell you, if they ever saw what they'd let themselves in for they'd run a mile. Now stop arguing and start acting like a team."

None of them had seen Hayley angry before so their argument immediately ceased. Hayley turned back to the screen and noted with disappointment that the fight had finished whilst they had argued, and now the screen was empty. She turned Tommy to ask why he hadn't said something and why he hadn't sorted out his team, but she caught sight of his face and thought better of it.

**A/N **_**Short but sweet I guess. Poor old Tommy's not having much luck is he? I like Hayley's short butt kicking speech though; she never really has one of those moments in the series and I always got the feeling she'd be good at it! Read and review as always! Xxx**_


	13. Second Chances

Disclaimer: Reality is harsh.

**This is very much a couple's chapter, hopefully quite light and sweet. Kira and Trent get some time to themselves and Tommy tries again…**

**Oh, and brush up on the Power Rangers Movie (1****st**** one) because this chapter features a scene which I tried to stay true to! How did Tommy become interested in dinosaurs…?**

**Chapter 13 – Second Chances**

Trent lay back on the blanket with a satisfied smile on his face. He had finally managed to get Kira on her own; under the pretense that he needed some help catching up with his history work. It wasn't really a lie, he reasoned with himself, after all the fact that he had slept through several classes had left him behind and he felt bad since Grace had been nice about it. He had decided to repay her understanding by catching up as quickly as possible, because it was the weekend he had suggested to Kira that they make a kind of picnic of it and have a little fun.

That was how they had come to be sat in the park on a blanket in the sun. So far they had got quite a lot done and he had discovered that Kira was really quite good at history; she somehow managed to remember the dates of things.

Kira smiled at Trent who had his eyes closed and was smiling. It was nice that he'd suggested this; things had been going better this week after his talk with Grace and then the one with Tommy. She had decided not to ask what they had said to him and Trent seemed content to say nothing so she didn't press him. In fact things had been going so well she had even begun to think that he might feel something for her. She had given up trying to treat him like one of the others because he quite simply wasn't; he was a lot more than that and she couldn't help but like him.

The idea of picnic for example; none of the others would have thought of that after all Ethan's idea of fun was anything electronic and Conner knew how to turn on the charm; he could spend the money and say all the right things. He even knew all the soppy romantic things the sap heads at school liked, but he'd never think of those things on the spur of the moment or simply for the sake of doing them. She smiled again at Trent, she really couldn't help but like him.

Tommy rang the door bell and waited apprehensively to see if Grace was in. She'd probably hate him for running out on her the other day; it was really obvious that they were going to kiss but then he'd jumped up and run away, God he must seem like a jerk.

The door suddenly opened and he smiled nervously at Grace who looked surprised to see him; he didn't have to wonder why.

"Oh, hi Tommy!" She said with a smile. He breathed an inward sigh of relief; she didn't seem to loathe the sight of him.

"Hey Grace," he took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry for what happened last time…I forgot that I um, had a doctor's appointment."

"It's okay," Grace hurried to assure him. "Well I mean…that is I hope you're okay?"

He could have groaned; now she was going to worry about him, she seemed like a worrier. "Yeah, it was nothing just a check up, but obviously as you guessed from my reaction, it was important…I had to talk to him…"

"It's okay Tommy," Grace said quickly. "You don't have to explain, you know, your health is kind of a private thing."

He felt relief flood through him. _Thank God for that, I mean honestly man it wasn't like you weren't messing that up! _He cut short the sarcastic thoughts and smiled at Grace.

"Well I was kinda' hoping you'd let me make it up to you and maybe come out with me this afternoon, you know and get some lunch?"

Her smile was all the answer he needed. "Yeah that would be great! Let me just get my jacket."

The park; that was where he would take her. It was a nice day and there was that little café by the fountain where they could sit and have lunch. He smiled as Grace appeared at the door, perhaps things were starting to look up!

Trent watched Kira as she strummed on her guitar her face creased with concentration. She tended to get inspiration for her songs at the oddest of times and once she had it was like a bug she couldn't get rid of until she had done something about it. The problem was that she had gotten it at a really bad time; he needed to talk to her, he had to explain why he was acting so weird. No, that wasn't right; he needed to explain why…how he felt about her. He sighed, if it was so hard to say to himself how on earth was he going to explain it to her?

"Um Kira?" _Here goes…_

"Yeah?" She didn't look up from the guitar strings.

"Can I talk to you?" _Duh, what do you think this is brainiac?_

"Sure Trent, what's up?" She still wasn't looking at him but she had to be listening, after all she was replying.

"We've been friends for ages now, I mean like from the first day you were really nice to me and I'm really grateful for that. I mean I guess I'm not so good at socializing and stuff."

"Sure Trent!" Kira sighed, if only she could get those two lines to fit somewhere. Oh, he was still talking…._concentrate._

"And do you remember the picture I drew of you as a superhero? Hayley put that up on the wall you know, and I drew you like that because…because you always seemed so brave like a superhero, you know?"

"Uh, huh." _Damn the chords needed to be changed there…_

Trent gave a small laugh as he edged nervously closer. "I mean talk about a premonition; since it turned out you were a superhero!" He cleared his throat and tried to resist the urge to run away; he was never any good at expressing himself. "At first I was a bit like, um…that maybe we could never…" _No that was wrong, what am I trying to say?_

"Then there was the whole me being evil thing which really sucked-"

"Yeah." Kira said vaguely. _Men; she was trying to write a song about him and how she felt and the guy wouldn't stop talking…_

"But you were always so understanding and you really helped me and that's why I feel…I was kinda' hoping that you would um, like to…that is to say I um…" What the hell was he supposed to say? "A little help here Kira." He muttered to himself; she always knew what he was trying to say.

"Is that Dr.O?" _What? What did she just say?_ That wasn't the kind of help he had been expecting.

What?" He stared at her confused.

"A date?" Kira sounded incredulous and perhaps a little excited.  
"Yes!" Exclaimed Trent happily, she understood him! Thank God, because that conversation could only have gotten worse…

"That _is_ Dr.O… and Miss Peyton?" _What?_ Trent realized she wasn't looking at him; in fact she was looking at their science and history teachers walking along the path at the bottom of the hill. Grace had her arm tucked in Tommy's and they were laughing.

"A date, that looks like a date!" _Great, so she hadn't been talking to him, had she even listened?_ He lay back with a groan. _Wrong kind of help Kira._

"I swear that is a date!" Kira continued excitedly. "They must be going out!"

"At least someone is." Trent muttered to the sky.

Grace felt dazed as she sat across from Tommy at the small table he had chosen outside of the restaurant in the park. He was currently explaining how he had come to be in Reefside, she felt bad for not really listening but she still couldn't believe he was here. It seemed that he hadn't been trying to get away from her after all; he wouldn't be here now if he had been, and that was what was so exciting! She wasn't going to let her imagination run riot and think that he was attracted to her, but he certainly wasn't here because he hated her! If all he was offering was friendship she wasn't going to say no just because she liked him as more; she was going to hang on to it because it was all she had. She also couldn't be sure when she had realized she had liked him; well obviously she would have to be blind not to be attracted to him.

'_Lets face it,"_ she thought to herself. _'He's handsome as sin. Even a blind person would be able to tell that he was…well pretty.'_ Not in a feminine way though, more in a 'what are you an angel or something?' kind of way. The kind of male angel you could imagine rescuing you from disaster; a dark avenging warrior kind of thing like out of a book…

"Oh for God's sake get a grip!" Honestly what was she doing thinking like that? This wasn't even a book this was reality and…

"Sorry?" Grace looked up startled when Tommy apologized.

"Did I say that out loud?" She asked, wincing because she thought she knew the answer.

"Um, yeah." Tommy chuckled at her expression.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't saying it to you I promise. It was me, I was just….I'm just." She gave a groan and rested her forehead on the silver table so that her hair hung down either her side of her face and she couldn't see Tommy.

"I'm making a mess of this aren't I?" She finished ruefully.

Tommy couldn't help but laugh at her but put a hand out and rubbed her back comfortingly. "No you're not you just have your head in a different place right now."

"But I don't!" Exclaimed Grace, sitting up right again. "At least I don't mean to be, it's just that I listen and I concentrate but then something you say will spark off all these other thoughts and then I can't seem to get back to the original conversation. I mean, not that it was a conversation because for that you need two people and you may have noticed that I wasn't really letting you join in. Like now for example because I'm babbling." She took a deep breath and smiled ruefully at Tommy who looked a little bemused by her rapid talking.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I'm usually a really good listener and I am interested in where you come from and how you came to Reefside, because if you hadn't we wouldn't be sat here doing this. And this is nice you know? Not that it's that nice for you because I seem to be dominating the whole speaking thing and you're probably wanting to leave now and I seem to be determined to make thing worse-"

Tommy cut her torrent off by placing a hand over her mouth, and smiled at her. "This _is _nice, but you need to relax! And although it's funny to listen to I think I should stop you before your stress levels make your head explode!"

Everything had gone better after that, she had finally calmed down and even managed to concentrate on what he was saying. He had thought it unusual that she couldn't listen after all he knew enough about her to know she was possibly the best listener he had ever met. Jason, Trini and Kat had all been pretty good too; Trini had always something sensible to say and Kat had comforted. Jason was more like his brother and his best friend, which reminded him; he had to call him soon as they hadn't spoken in a while. He shook his head, now he was the one who wasn't listening; he'd asked her why she had become a history teacher and now he'd only caught bits of it.

"So how about you?" Grace asked, taking a sip of her drink. "I mean Paleontology is a pretty specific area, why did you choose it?"

"Well Dinosaurs have always been pretty important to me, very powerful." _'I don't think you'd believe me if I told you just how powerful…'_

"But there must have been a moment when you knew that was what you wanted to do?"

Tommy raised an eyebrow and smiled. _Oh now there was a story…_

_Earth had been taken over by Ivan Ooze and Zordon's power had been destroyed and as a result so had theirs. The only choice left to them was to find a power source on a distant planet Phaedos; there they had met Dulcea who told them the secrets of the Ninjetti and how to find the power. On the way through the jungle to the monolith they had encountered a bit of a problem…_

"_What is this place?" Asked Aisha as they stepped from the bushes into a clearing filled with bones._

"_Looks like some kind of grave yard." Billy replied as they wandered over the littered ground._

_Kim ran a hand over a giant skull. "I wonder what happened to them all."_

"_Personally," Adam replied a little nervously. "I'd rather not find out." _

_The others nodded in agreement; if something had killed them it was bound to be even bigger and even more powerful, none of them wanted to encounter that._

_Adam nudged Aisha, a mischievous grin on his face. "Welcome to Jurassic Park!" he joked._

"_Very funny Adam." Aisha said with a sigh, but she couldn't help smiling._

_Billy leant forward and peered into the skull of one of the dinosaurs, his natural curiosity kicking in, none of them saw the tail rising slowly behind him until it came rushing towards him. Billy dove out of the way but the head swung around and let out a loud roar, it stood laboriously revealing itself to be Triceratops; Tommy immediately saw the irony, from the look on Billy's face so did he. _

_Catching sight of the yellow clad girl the dinosaur bones charged at Aisha who let out a yell of alarm._

"_Aisha get out of there!" Yelled Adam but Aisha seemed frozen in shock, stumbling over backwards. Seeing what was happening Rocky grabbed one of the many bones off of the floor and proceeded to hit the dinosaur with it. The Triceratops' head swung around suddenly sending Rocky flying through the air and leaving him stunned._

"_Rocky!" Kim cried in alarm, unfortunately bringing the dinosaur's attention to her. Adam, finding himself in its path rolled beneath the charging pile of bones, narrowly missing being crushed by its tail and Kim ran to take refuge in a giant ribcage._

"_Tommy help!" The pink ranger screamed desperately. "Tommy!"_

"_Hang on Kim!" The white ranger looked around desperately for a weapon, and ended up pulling a branch from a near by tree. He ran towards the dinosaur which was currently trying to kill a screaming Kim_

"_Alright bone head!" Tommy attacked the dinosaur's head as hard as he could but when the spiked head swung around to face him he was forced to dive out of the way. The dinosaur let out another enormous roar and chased the white ranger; Tommy ran up a tree and back flipped onto the dinosaur's shoulders, praying it would be like riding a horse._

"_Tommy hang on!" Aisha yelled at him. Tommy wanted to yell that was exactly what he planned on doing when the dinosaur began to lurch from side to side in an attempt to throw him off. More like a bucking horse then…_

"_Tommy!" Billy yelled in alarm. But there seemed to be nothing they could do, and the rangers watched helplessly as their friend and leader was flung around, fighting to stay on._

"_Hold on tight Tommy!" Shouted Rocky as he looked around wildly for something to help him._

_It was then that Tommy caught sight of the small bone at the back of the dinosaur's head; it seemed to connect the skull to the rest of the neck which gave him an idea.._

"_Yo, fossil head!" He said triumphantly. "I've got a bone to pick with you!" He reached down and grasped the bone yanking it from its socket; the head fell off and there was a moment of silence in which the dinosaur seemed deathly still. _

_Tommy glanced down. "Huh?"_

_The bones suddenly trembled violently and collapsed sending Tommy sprawling amongst them with a yell, the others immediately rushed to help._

"_Are you okay?" Kim asked anxiously._

"_Yeah," Tommy replied once he was stood. "I'm fine."_

_They surveyed the rubble. Billy grinned at him. "Looks like biology finally paid off for you huh?"_

Tommy shrugged a little smile on his face. "I guess you could say that it came to life, you know, jumped up and bit me." He couldn't hold back the grin.

Grace gave him a quizzical smile. Had she missed a joke somewhere?

**A/N **_**Tee hee! Nothing like a good movie clip to help the story along and now Tommy's choice of subject is explained, not to mention the fact that he was one of the first ranger's who got their powers from the dinosaurs! This scene admittedly isn't very good for the whole 'Girl Power' movement, I mean honestly Kim pull yourself together! Anyways a girl likes to be rescued occasionally, after all men have to have something to do…Read and Review! xxx **_


	14. A Secret Revealed

**Disclaimer: Seriously people you get it by now; I will claim nothing for the rest of this story other than the fact that I am severely put upon. (Humpff)**

**Okay chappies someone in this chapter is about to discover a huge secret but who is it…literally..?**

**Chapter 14 – A Secret Revealed…**

Kira all but ran from her class as lunch began. She couldn't wait to tell the others what she and Trent had seen at the weekend; Dr.O and Grace! She could barely believe it herself but she was so excited after all they seemed perfect for each other they just kind of clicked. She had initially wondered whether to tell the others after all it did seem a bit like intruding but she figured they'd find out anyway and besides they were friends it wasn't like they would tell everybody.

The others were already at their usual bench when she arrived, she frowned at Trent who was looking a little down in the dumps; but then again he had been since Sunday afternoon in the park. He smiled at her though when she sat down so she pushed that problem to the back of her head, first things first…

"So," Ethan nudged Conner with a smirk. "Where were you guys all weekend?" Kira blushed and Trent looked a little embarrassed but hurried to assure them it was nothing.

"Kira was just helping me catch up with what I missed in history, it took ages; I didn't realize I'd missed so much." Conner and Ethan looked a little disappointed with such a simple explanation but accepted it anyway. Kira didn't know what to think; on the one hand she was grateful to Trent because there was no way she could have coped if Ethan and Conner had started teasing them but Trent had almost jumped to tell them it was nothing, she felt a flicker of disappointment.

"Shame," Conner said with a shrug. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go on a double date with me and this girl I met in Chem. Class." No one was sure if he was joking or not.

'Speaking of dates," Kira said excitedly. "You'll never guess who me and Trent saw on a date yesterday!" Ethan made a strange gurgling noise. They all turned to look at him, he'd gone bright red, Kira frowned; what was up with him?

Conner shook his head at Ethan and looked back over to Kira. "Come on then who was it?"

"Dr.O and Grace!" She managed to keep her voice down so no one else could hear but she really wanted to yell it in excitement.

"No way!" Conner exclaimed.

"Ssshhh!" The other three hissed. Ethan seemed to have recovered his composure.

"No way." Conner repeated in an awed sounding whisper.

"Are you serious, Dr.O and Miss Peyton?" Ethan leant low across the table to keep his voice quiet.

Kira giggled. "Definitely, we saw them in the park!"

"Whoa, what were you two doing in the park?" Ethan interrupted.

Conner waved for him to be quiet. "Are you sure?" He asked Kira.

"Yeah!" Kira exclaimed excitedly. "I swear it must have been a date because they looked really happy and I mean they were walking arm in arm!"

The others looked at her with incredulous smiles on their faces, only Trent looked glum. He hadn't been able to speak to Kira about anything else; she was obsessed with the topic and she talked about it non stop.

"Oh man this is unbelievable!" Conner shook his head in disbelief. "I always said Dr.O needed more of a social life." Ethan rolled his eyes.

"What?" Conner said indignantly. "You guys all heard me say it, right?"

Grace wandered the school field as though she were on a cloud. She was vaguely aware that she must have a silly grin on her face but it was too hard to wipe off.

Yesterday had been amazing; after buying lunch she and Tommy had walked around the park just talking about anything that popped into their heads, and then he had walked her home. He'd said they'd have to do it again sometime! Grace was sure she could dance with excitement; people only said that if they meant it!

The only thing she worried over was the good bye; she hadn't been sure whether to kiss him on the cheek or whether to kiss him on the lips. Like before it had been a weird moment. He'd leaned in really close and told her that he had really enjoyed the afternoon and she'd gotten that spiky fluttery feeling in her stomach like she had before, but just when it seemed like they were going to kiss he gotten all jittery and simply said, "So I'll see you around?"

She sighed and shook her head. She could have said "No, you won't." But that would have implied that he had been there to hear it; he'd run off so fast she was sure he was being chased! She shook her head again. Men.

A panicked scream split the air and shattered her cloud; she spun around to see Elsa and some freaky dinosaur mutants in the middle of the field. Students and teachers alike were running in all directions yelling their heads off and all too quickly the field was empty.

Great and she'd thought this day hadn't been that bad, time to power up…

Tommy wanted to smack his head on the table. Yesterday had been going so well until that moment at her door; it was that kiss thing again. It was going fine, in fact more than fine, and all he had wanted to do was kiss her but as usual someone above stairs obviously hated him; his communicator had gone off.

He'd left her on her doorstep obviously completely confused and probably more than a little pissed off. It would be amazing if she ever spoke to him again; he was probably coming across as one of those jerks that mess women around because they think it's funny. This was however, not in the least bit funny and next time he saw Zeltrax or any of those damn Tyrannodrones he'd kick their asses into next week…

His communicator gave its familiar beep. He sighed and lifted it to his mouth.

"It's Tommy here, what's wrong?"

Hayley's voice sounded tinny over the com. "It looks like Elsa got bored and decided to have a little fun on the school field. You'd better get over there, I'll get the others."

"I'm on my way."

Grace was starting to think that this wasn't one of the best ideas she'd ever had; she was badly outnumbered and that was without Elsa joining in. That witch was just stood there laughing at her and occasional throwing over an insult. Her minions were tossing Grace around like a sack of flour, and if she was honest with herself she was starting to feel like one; beaten to a fine powder.

Grace knew she was in trouble when the mutants got their act together and surrounded her; a circle that she was stuck in the middle of. No matter how many punches and kicks she threw out she had yet another minion to contend with. One gripped her in an iron like headlock and another swept her legs from under her. Before she could pull herself up another two grabbed her arms and yanked her so hard that she shot up, she had only just adjusted herself to this new position when Elsa snarled an order to the mutants that held her.

"On her knees." They applied a painful amount of tension to her shoulders and arms so that she was forced to one knee; it thudded into the ground and she felt the jolt all the way up her leg, gritting her teeth in pain.

"Well," Elsa placed her sneering face close to Grace's. "You weren't much of a ranger were you? You're pathetic!"

Grace struggled against the dinosaur freak's clawed hands. If she could just get her leg round and…She swept her left leg out knocking over the mutant on that side and before it could be replaced, flipped the one on the right onto its back. Unfortunately Elsa was quicker than she expected and Grace found herself being grabbed from behind and was suddenly flying through the air.

It was when she hit the ground with a jarring thud causing her to demorph and not a moment too soon for at that moment the power rangers came out from the line of trees and bushes that lined the left side of the field. A series of small humps which kids liked to ride their bikes on obscured the school from sight for which Grace was grateful; it meant that the other rangers hadn't seen her demorph.

"Leave her alone Elsa!" The rangers came running to stand in front of her, blocking Elsa from view. The tall black ranger came to kneel by her side and helped her sit up, she winced; it felt like every bone in her body had been crushed and then stuck together by a five year old with crazy glue.

"Are you okay?" The guy sounded worried, it was almost like his job depended on her being okay.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She glanced over at the other rangers who were an impressive display of colour and who appeared to be having a slinging match with Elsa.

"She didn't hurt you?" Grace snapped her attention back to the black ranger by her side.

"I'd like to see her try." Grace said with a grin. For some reason she was sure that if he hadn't had his helmet on he would have smiled.

"You'd better get back to the school, it'll be safe there." Before she could ask how he knew that she worked at the school he brought up a gloved hand and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. "You're okay." He murmured as though assuring himself.

Her breath caught in her chest.

The black ranger raced over to where his team mates fought; they were steadily drawing away from where she sat; no doubt to stop her getting hurt. She stood in a daze, her hand to her cheek.

"Tommy?"

**A/N **_**Ah Ha ha! (Imagine that sounding triumphant and evil) Bet you didn't see that coming! Wow, I love doing this! You know I think my life was crap before I started to do this, anyways hope you guys enjoyed it! As always read and review and the next installment will be coming soon! Xxx**_


	15. Things we know

_**Sorry about the wait guys I got a universal writers block on all my stories, and yes I am actually on chapter 25 of this story but I've been really busy and not feeling so good. Anyways you have my apologies so here are two chapters to make up for it.**_

**In this chapter the team discusses their new and elusive member, but do they really know anything? **

**Chapter 15 – Things we know**

Tommy glanced over at the other members of the team who were laying about the command centre or 'lair' as they had taken to calling it. Trent and Kira were sat at a table working although Trent was more intent on sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Ethan as usual, was messing around on his laptop and Conner was sat on the sofa texting; probably one of his numerous female fans.

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck; he was glad he'd finished his marking; it meant he could just sit back and relax, and think about what had happened that day. There had been that horrible moment when he had seen Grace lying on the grass; she looked like she had been thrown there and Elsa was laughing at her. To her credit Grace hadn't been unduly fazed by the encounter, if anything she had looked more upset by the grass stains on her grey trousers. In fact when he had asked if she was hurt she'd said "I'd like to see her try." Tommy shook his head; she was obviously a lot tougher than she looked.

When he'd gotten back to the school she had already left; Reefside was closed early due to the attack, and evacuated probably from the fear of a monster appearing and being blown to enormous proportions. It seemed school health and safety regulations didn't cover being squashed or eaten.

He still couldn't forget that tight feeling in his chest at the sight of her, and when she had winced he was sure he felt her pain all the way down to his feet. The others had expressed their surprise at Grace being there but they had all gotten over it pretty quickly, Tommy was sure his head was still reeling; his feelings obviously ran deeper than he had thought.

Elsa hadn't exactly helped him recover either; the first thing she had asked him as they crossed blades was "How's your ranger pal?" He'd known instantly who she was talking about but the question had caught him off guard; she'd dealt him a blow on the chest that had sent him spinning. It had seemed like a really odd question to ask though; surely she would have known that they had yet to meet the new ranger who was proving to be very elusive? Hayley was tracking his movements but every time Tommy reached the last sighting he was gone. Why had she asked at that particular moment? The green ranger hadn't been seen for several days, she must know something they didn't…

"You don't suppose Mezagog has him?" Tommy looked up at Kira's worried voice; he hadn't realized that he had spoken that last bit out loud. It was a possibility after all it seemed like a plan Mezagog would come up with.

"But wouldn't she have wanted to gloat?" Conner pointed out.

Kira shook her head. "It's possible I suppose, but is a subtle dig like that more Elsa's style? She'd be asking a question we wouldn't know the answer to."

"Exactly," Trent said, "She would know we didn't understand, it could be a diversionary tactic."

Tommy nodded in agreement, it sounded like something they would do. "I think Trent's right. She wants us to think she knows something, to make us worry when she probably has nothing."

Hayley nodded too. "It's unlikely she has the green ranger, I haven't had any readings for the last few days but that doesn't mean he's not out there and I haven't been here twenty four hours a day; there could have been some activity and I wouldn't know about it." Kira finally nodded but Tommy understood the worry; it was still a possibility and no matter what he said it was something he would have to keep in mind. Not knowing who this guy was was a real danger for the ranger; no one would know if they were missing and it meant the team couldn't help him.

**A/N **_**Okay so it's short but it's sort of a linking chapter, the Rangers had to discuss the possibility of trouble but it's not a major thing. Anyway, not precisely interesting just necessary. As always read and review! xxx**_


	16. You are

**Grace has a dilemma, and does anyone really know what makes a Ranger? Tell me what you think!**

Song quote – Reach Out. Sorry I don't know who it's by!

**Chapter 16 – You Are…**

'**Coz I don't know you and you don't know me**

**So how can we be fighting?'**

It was the way he had touched her, that was what had given it away. That brush across her cheek had kept her awake at night; a gentle touch to waken her, to comfort and now it was a reminder. Her head was still spinning because now she knew his ultimate secret; not that she knew that much about him at all. Worst of all it meant she could guess who the other Rangers were, and it explained his willingness to spend so much time with his students, and why he treated them like friends. When you were in a team like that you came to realize you had treat each other with respect, besides, with a job like that you had to grow up quickly.

It explained a lot about Tommy; how good he was at keeping secrets and hiding and the way he sometimes spoke with this worldly experience; he'd seen and done things, she knew that now. It also made her wonder how long he had been doing it; from the things she had seen it was easy to guess that he was the leader but it didn't seem to be just because he was older.

Grace pushed a hand through her curls and tried to figure out the enormity of the situation. In a world that so often seemed ordinary you could find people who stretched the boundaries; Tommy's life was not ordinary and now she too had been sucked in. Would she begin to move with the same wolfish grace, an anticipation of a fight? Would she exude the same worldly experience? Would her eyes look that sad?

She'd never been comfortable with lying; she didn't view the Power Rangers as liars but the problem was that she was now lying. It had been okay when she hadn't known who they were but could she really lie to her friends…lie to Tommy? Her life had just got a hell of a lot more complicated, and she wasn't sure she could justify her lie anymore.

She pushed away from the table and put her cup in the sink, staring out of the window. There was still that possibility though; that they would want her to give up the gem and give up her powers. She wasn't brave like Kira or smart like Ethan, she wasn't athletic like Conner or strong like Trent and she could never measure up to Tommy. What made someone a Ranger? If she knew that maybe her problems would be solved…

**A/N **_**Okay it's the shortest chapter I've ever written I know but when I started to write the next bit it really needed its own chapter, so I apologize that it's a bit of a cheat chapter! xxx **_


	17. It's a girlguy kinda' thing

**As always guys thanks for the reviews, I'm so glad you like what I'm writing and all your compliments make me feel really happy! Oh and read the new Harry Potter book and may I just say WOW, giggles and tears! Unfortunately I am a very fast reader so after a few hours I had to just read it again, but now I have nothing to read! I guess a third time won't hurt me… **

**Hope you guys find this next chapter funny! Enjoy xxx**

**Conner is still determined to work out what's going on but the conversation takes on a different topic all together hence the title; who's talking about what? Tommy becomes a little traumatized and Conner has an epiphany!**

**Chapter 17 – It's a girl/guy kinda' thing…hang on are we talking about sex?**

Conner watched the playback of the green ranger, desperate for something to suggest who they were. On the screen next to him the computer was running through the medical records of the team, looking for similarities. It was a long shot trying to solve two mysteries but curiosity demanded explanations.

Tommy was sat on his left staring at the screen too; it was unnerving how silent he was and the way his dark eyes followed the green clad figure around the screen. Conner had wanted to ask him what was wrong but something about his teacher's attitude stopped him; the intense gaze put him on edge. Wanting to distract himself he turned around to look at Kira who was sat at a table working.

"He moves like a girl." He stated.

"He?" Said Ethan from the other side of the room.

"Fine," Conner replied in exasperation. "She moves like a girl."

"Good," Ethan smirked. "We could do with some more girls!"

Kira rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it." She muttered.

Trent couldn't help but grin at that; Kira must sometimes feel quite alone with the 'block head men' around her. He shrugged. "Perhaps he's just light on his feet."

"Yeah," rejoined Kira sarcastically. "I mean I know you guys are such studs and everything, and you obviously have a lot of experience with women so you've noticed that she's missing a few things."

Trent snorted into his workbook. Ethan and Conner turned back to the screen.

"I hate to say it dude," Ethan said with a sigh. "But I think she's right; she seems to be lacking in the um…well you know…" He made a motion with his hands and blushed guiltily when he saw Kira raise an eyebrow.

"Flat chested?" Conner replied hopefully.

"I dunno," Ethan said doubtfully. "I'm detecting a certain amount of…um…lower bulge."

Trent snorted again but his covering cough was ruined by his hidden face and shaking shoulders. Kira on the other hand didn't manage to hold in her laugh.

Conner looked at Ethan like he had suddenly grown moldy. "Dude, seriously."

"What, you guys were all thinking it!" Ethan had gone very red.

"Yeah," Trent replied, uncovering his face. "But there's thinking it and there's saying it. You said it"

Kira leaned in to look at the screen. "How do you guys even tell?"

"Kira!" Conner sounded scandalized.

"What? I mean you guys stare at girl's chests, why can't we stare at your 'lower bulge' as Ethan eloquently put it?"

Trent was laughing loudly by this time and Conner and Ethan had gone bright red. "Please Kira," Ethan pleaded. "Let's not ruin a beautiful friendship."

"Size doesn't matter and all that." Conner muttered. "Besides for girls to do that is just…well, just wrong."

"Whatever," Kira didn't look up from the screen. "Girls only tell guys size doesn't matter when they're sadly lacking."

Trent fell off of his chair and Hayley, who had been quiet up until this moment, burst out into laughter.

"Oh my God." Whimpered Conner. Ethan looked ill.

"I think this guy is sadly lacking." Kira stated.

"I…I…" Ethan couldn't seem to think what else to say.

"What are you talking about?" Conner didn't really sound like he wanted to know.

"Well I mean usually you can tell. Like Dr.O-"

"WHOA!" Yelped Tommy, throwing up his hands. "I really do not need to get involved in this!" He started to hurriedly gather his papers.

"What?" Kira said in surprise, she turned to look at Hayley.

The older woman shrugged. "It's the skin tight lycra."

"See!" Kira turned back to look at her friends. Trent was still sat on the floor looking shell shocked and the other two weren't much better. The silence lasted entire minutes.

"Can I be refitted?" Conner asked weakly.

"Yeah," squeaked Ethan. "I'm thinking a couple of sizes bigger; baggy pants all the way."

"I second that!" Trent said, hurriedly putting up a hand.

Tommy buried his head in his hands.

……………………………………………………..

Conner started to gather up all the papers the computer had printed out. The others had left after the conversation had started to get decidedly weird and Hayley had gone back to the cyber cafe.

Something on the paper in front of him caught his eye. He started to spread everything back out on the table, placing his friends medical readings in a line and grabbing a highlighter. When he was finished he stepped back and tried to work out what was going on. They'd all had some sort of injury, even Kira who'd simply been exhausted, and at Tommy's insistence they'd all had a medical check and the information logged as was the ranger policy. Tommy had said injuries had to be logged in case they became ill and no one could work out why. For once Conner was grateful for the procedure.

Each file had a reading or residual energy that wasn't the same as the energy that had caused the wound. After the reading had been taken the wounds had an increase in the rate of healing; something had effectively healed them. Conner studied the readings carefully; what was interesting was how familiar that energy was…

**A/N **_**Eeek! Has Conner finally solved it? See that would just be giving it away and we can't have that…**_

**Grace - "Oh you are so mean!" OneWorld – "What are you talking about? It's artistic license!" Tommy – "Yeah, you so mean!" OneWorld – "But everyone already knows it was you." Grace – "Sshh don't give it all away!" OneWorld – "Now whose being mean?" Tommy – "I could kill her for you." OneWorld – "Um, I'm not entirely sure that's necessary…"**


	18. My problem is your problem

**Conner has to explain to his team what's going on. Has he finally solved the mystery? Oh, and Grace and Tommy have a little chat but as usual nothing goes quite to plan…**

**Chapter 18 – My problem is your problem**

Conner looked around the table exasperatedly. "Don't you see what I'm saying?"

"No," Kira replied. "I kinda' think that's the problem we're having here."

"I just can't believe you're still obsessing over this." Ethan said with a shake of his head.

"Why don't you try explaining it again?" Trent said, feeling a little sorry for Conner. He was given a grateful look and the explanation began again.

"We were all healed in the same way, by the same energy which means we all came into contact with it at some point."

Ethan resisted the urge to say 'well duh.'

'I spent ages trying to work out what the residual energy was," Conner continued excitedly. "I was comparing it to everything I could think of and then by accident I saw it had similarities to the energy that occurs when we morph. Everyone with me so far?"

Kira nodded; it was easier to understand when Conner wasn't talking so fast that all his words merged together. He actually sounded really smart.

"There were differences too though so I decided to test it on anything that was vaguely ranger related, the bikes, the gems; everything. I was starting to give up when I remembered the first thing we used as rangers!" He looked around the table and was met with blank faces.

"Our powers guys!" He exclaimed. "Remember Kira, you screamed?" Comprehension dawned on their faces.

"So this residue is the same kind of energy as our additional powers?" Trent asked.

"Better than that," Conner replied. "It's exactly the same."

Ethan shook his head in confusion. "But that would make it-"

"A ranger power." Conner finished with a nod.

"That's impossible…"Kira began but then tailed off. Conner knew what she was thinking.

"Yeah but it would be possible if there was a new Power Ranger." He said.

The table fell silent and all that could be heard was the background noise that came with the lunch break; a couple of hundred teenagers granted their freedom for an hour. The implication of what Conner had discovered in his dogged persistence was just short of mind-blowing. Some how everything was linked and it was all coming together.

"So we've met…" Ethan shook his head, his mind reeling with possibilities.

"Shit." Kira said. "We've all come into contact with this person, how can we not know who it is?"

"Does this mean they know who we are?" Trent asked worriedly. "I mean what we can do, what we are?"

Conner sighed. "It seems pretty likely; it just seems like too much of a coincidence to believe that we all came into contact with them, they must have known what they were doing."

The enormity of the situation was sinking in for the rangers and they all felt slightly ill; it was like a normal person being told that a murderer had been inside their house whilst they slept. Someone knew a secret that you spent everyday trying to keep hidden, a secret that could put you and the people around you in danger.

'Thank God he's not evil." Kira said with a shudder, and slipped her hand into Trent's.

"But what if he's captured?" Ethan asked. "What if he gets turned evil?"

"I'd rather not think about that." Conner replied.

………………………………………………………………

The sky outside was beginning to darken as Tommy stared at the things Conner had given him. For some reason he didn't feel surprised, he felt strangely disembodied like this was all happening to somebody else; he'd been feeling like that a lot lately. It was a possibility that his new ranger knew who they all were and like Kira he thanked God, or whoever it was that was out there, that this ranger wasn't evil. He'd been there, done that; he'd known the secrets of other rangers and had tried to use it against them and had nearly succeeded. He had no idea how to protect the rest of the team from something like that; they needed to discover the identity of the green ranger before Mezagog took a leap back in history…

"Tommy?" He snapped his head round to see Grace stood in the doorway looking slightly anxious.

"Oh, hey Grace." He replied and began to tidy away the files on his desk, tucking Conner's research amongst his marking.

"I'm sorry, is it a bad time?"

"No, no I was just catching up on some marking, you know how it is; it all kind of gets on top of you." Grace nodded in agreement and placed a coffee on the table; Tommy could have hugged her.

Grace watched the way the smile spread across his face at the sight of the coffee, but it didn't really reach his eyes like it usually did. He looked tired and perhaps a little sad.

"Anything I can help with?" She asked him.

Tommy glanced at his marking and shrugged. "I'm not sure how much you know about dinosaurs but you can give it a go if you want to."

Grace laughed at that. "I meant the sleeping thing Tommy."

"Oh," He gave a little chuckle. "I'm not so sure, besides I'm so beat I'll probably sleep like a log tonight!" He studied her face in turn. "You don't exactly look fresh as a daisy either."

Grace smiled at that. "It's nothing really, just a lot of work so I think I'll call it an early night." She paused as though unsure whether to say anything else. "Are you still having those dreams? It might help if you talk about them."

"I'd rather not." Tommy stood abruptly.

Grace winced. She was always prying, why couldn't she just leave it alone? He obviously didn't want to talk about them but she just couldn't resist being bloody nosy…what an idiot…

Tommy saw her wince and instantly felt bad; he didn't have the right to take it out on her, it wasn't her fault he was acting like a git, and now she was leaving.

"I'm sorry Grace," She turned back to look at him. "I'm just not…I just-" He gave a sigh of frustration and scrubbed a hand though his spikes; how to explain?

"Have you ever felt like your juggling a thousand things and if you drop one of them everything else will fall too, and if that happens it doesn't just affect you, it's like a secret that affects everyone around and I…I don't know. Maybe I'm just talking crap again."

"This secret's not like the end of the world though is it?" Grace said jokingly with a smile. Tommy laughed at that; what a slippery slope that was…

Grace watched him anxiously, the laugh suggested it was, which meant it was ranger related; she hoped it wasn't the green ranger causing him stress.

She tried again. "You can't always handle a thousand things Tommy, but dropping one doesn't mean dropping all of them. Drop one and all you have to do is pick it up again; worrying about what might happen gets you no where."

Tommy shook his head with a smile on his lips. "I have a friend who'd say exactly the same thing."

"Well they sound like they have a great deal of sense." Grace replied with a grin. It was time to change the topic. "Have you known them long?"

Tommy nodded and moved back over to his desk, opening a drawer and sifting through an envelope. "Since I was about sixteen when I moved to Angel Grove; we met at a karate tournament on my first day." He pulled out a picture and handed it to her.

Tommy had barely changed when she thought about it; sure he looked younger in the picture but you could tell instantly that it was him. He was crouched down with another boy on the sand, with what looked like a lake behind them. Tommy's hair was long and pulled back in pony tail to reveal a pierced ear and hoop, and emphasized the grin on his face. The boy next to him was good looking with short dark hair and a smile on his face that was almost brotherly, and he had his arm slung around Tommy's shoulders. Tommy was dressed in green and his friend in red; she just managed to keep back the gasp of surprise; had Tommy been a ranger at sixteen? But that would make him one of the first; he had said Angel Grove…

"That's Jason," Tommy said. "He's basically a brother."

Grace smiled at him; there was affection in his voice, maybe even pride. "Bet you two made quite a team; broke a few girls' hearts did you?" She laughed at the faint stain on his cheeks. Who was she kidding? The two young men in the picture would certainly have broken her heart; it was unfair that men could look that pretty! Two handsome faces and gorgeous smiles and it was obvious that they kept in shape; sleeveless tops told that story. She handed back the picture with a teasing smile and Tommy grinned; he was instantly that boy again, a boy with a carefree smile and older eyes. Had he always been like that? Had his eyes always told a different story from his smile, had he ever really been carefree?

"Its sounds like you two still have that friendship." She said.

"Yeah," he smiled down at the photo again before placing back in the drawer; she caught a glimpse of other photos before it was closed.

"Grace." She looked back up at him enquiringly. "Thank you." He said simply and then he bent his head and kissed her.

It was a perfect moment, and she had never really had one of those before. The world just disappeared in a shimmer of colour and she felt warm all over. His lips were warm and soft and he kissed her like he was afraid she would disappear and when he deepened the kiss it was all she could do just to stand up.

He lifted his head and looked down at her upturned face and hazy green eyes; his head still buzzed from the shock. He hadn't planned on kissing her, kissing her because he was grateful, because she was there; it had been a spur of the moment when she stood there looking so pretty. It was relaxing just wanting to immerse himself, to just make that moment last but then he'd gone and ruined it…

"Tommy?" Grace looked at him, a worried expression on her face.

Ruined it because of the flash; a green ranger. Why couldn't he keep it out of his head? Was he so focused on this nightmare that it invaded every moment of peace he had? It had ruined the kiss and left him bewildered; there had been that moment of fear and panic and now he felt slightly sick. He turned away from that worried expression, he needed to be alone; he had to stop this.

"You should probably go," He said gruffly. "I need to be alone right now."

"Tommy what's wrong?" Grace put a hand on his shoulder. This wasn't like him, what was going on?

He whirled around to face her, she needed to leave, and he was desperate. "Nothing's wrong." He snapped, and realizing what he was doing took a deep and calming breath. "Grace it's just best if you're not around me, I just…you need to go…I can't."

She took a step back at the anger in his voice, there was something wrong but the message was clear; she was what was wrong. She wanted to cry, she was so confused, he'd kissed her and she didn't understand what she had done. Don't cry.

Tommy saw the hurt and the confusion on her face and his chest clenched; he'd messed it up and now she thought it was something she had done.

"Grace." He put out a hand to stop her, to stop her and explain.

"No," She said, stepping backwards again. "No its okay I…I get it." She resisted the urge to run to the door but once she was in the corridor she ran; out of the school and to her car, desperate to leave.

Tommy sat down at his desk heavily. He'd messed up again all because of what went on inside his head. He pulled open his drawer and lifted the picture out again; what he needed was a friend to talk to; someone who knew everything about him…

**A/N **_**Okay so it went a little depressing but this way it fits into the grand scheme of things, trust me I know what I'm doing. Poor Tommy, don't you just wanna take him home and cuddle him! As always read and review! xxx**_


	19. Opposites Attract?

**Chapter 19 – Opposites Attract?**

**Remember chapter 14 – why did Ethan panic when Kira mentioned who they'd seen in the park? Well Ethan has his own problems after all…**

It was horrible. That was all he could think. It was quite possibly one of the stupidest ideas he'd ever had and he'd had several of those. He had never understood what the attraction was but he just couldn't seem to help himself; maybe it was the hair…yeah it had to be the hair because anything else was illogical.

She was sweet, lovely and beautiful…she was also prone to tantrums and violent episodes; you had to feel sorry for Devin sometimes. They didn't really have much in common and he knew that, he'd discovered that when he'd arranged the picnic by the sea and Dr.O had given him some help since being invisible had to be useful for something. So they had nothing in common, other than a friendship with Devin, but they had met over the internet which meant that there had to be some sort of similarity didn't it?

Okay so there had been some exaggerations and few tiny lies on both sides but the initial attraction was there. She could be so cute sometimes and really nice, she just seemed insecure and she covered it up with her pink persona, she could be horrible but it was like she thought if she got in there first she wouldn't get hurt.

She even occasionally said something relatively intelligent; in fact she was intelligent she just seemed to lose it amongst her hare brained ideas of being a reporter. It had shone through though, like that time Dr.O had been in some sort of coma and fighting himself and she had said that she had complete faith in the Power Rangers. Kira had even admitted that Cassidy wasn't that bad and had kind of made friends with her, or at least achieved some level of equanimity. Conner may tease but even he had to admit that Cassidy was pretty with all that long flowing, golden hair…yeah, it was definitely the hair.

Well the picnic had been a bit of a disaster what with him being a bundle of nerves, babbling and spilling drink down her, and then of course a load of tyrannodrones had turned up. They had both decided that it was best that they didn't see each other; Devin had mentioned something about Cassidy being worried that Ethan was making her nice and Ethan had his work cut out being a Ranger.

Dr.O had said something though, something that made Ethan think that maybe he had been wrong; he'd said that being a Ranger didn't mean you couldn't have a normal life, well relatively normal anyway. He had said that Zordon, who had started the whole thing, had wanted them to experience life despite their duty to the earth which is one of the reasons the power moved around. Ethan thought that the giant head in a jar had a point; he was still just a guy and he wanted a life too, he wanted to experience stuff even if it was only the feel of Cassidy's hand in his.

That was one of the reasons he had taken her that bunch of flowers and the reason he had taken her to the park for a day. Later there had been that horrible moment when Kira had mentioned seeing someone on a date and he had pictured his untimely demise at the hands of a laughing Conner, freaked out Kira and embarrassed Cassidy. Devin at least was happy with the whole thing and he thought that Cassidy was too, she just pretended to be indifferent; she had complimented him on his romantic nature. It was a small step but from there they could only go up…next she'd stop calling him Evan.

_**A/N I'd kind of forgotten about poor Ethan's problems but I remembered the reference in chapter 14 and thought I'd better stick him in again! His is more of a comedy problem; you know light relief, but still the poor guy! Read and review! xxx**_


	20. A Little Comfort

**The rangers have to stop doubting each other but can Tommy stop doubting himself? **

**Chapter 20 – A little Comfort**

Hayley watched as Conner sat drawing little diagrams, completely ignoring the milkshake he had ordered. As usual the Cyber café was full of teenagers who came after school and in any free period they had. The power rangers were no exception; Kira was sat with the rest of her band tuning her guitar and running through new songs, Trent was serving people their drinks and kept looking over at her. Hayley smiled, that was a budding romance. Conner was usually talking to one of the others or turning on the charm with the girls; which was always fun to watch, but today he was preoccupied with the medical files. She wasn't entirely sure this obsession was very healthy but then again it was nice to see him taking an interest; the general belief was that he wasn't particularly intelligent. She personally thought he was quite smart, what Conner lacked was common sense; he said the first thing that came into his head and that was what made him look a little stupid. He was also considered slow to catch on but it was really more along the lines of that he thought everything through so carefully he arrived at the answer a little later; if he applied that to his mouth instead he would be okay.

They all had to admit that he'd done well considering the amount of encouragement he'd received from them all; for which they had all felt guilty. Tommy had spoken to her about it and he'd seemed to feel particularly guilty…

…………………………………………………………………..

"I didn't give him any encouragement." Tommy said with a shake of his head.

"None of us did Tommy; you can't beat yourself up about it." Hayley wanted to comfort him but she had no clue what to say.

"I failed to understand my team again, I didn't tell the others to treat him with respect and I let my own doubts cloud my judgment. It keeps happening Hayley and I can't help but wonder if I need to give up my powers to someone else or maybe to one of them."

"No!" Hayley gripped his hand. "Tommy they need you; they can't do everything on their own, they need your help and your guidance you have more experience than anyone and that keeps them safe."

"The gems chose them Hayley, which means they can do this whether or not I'm here. Conner makes a great leader for them I just help them occasionally."

"Exactly Tommy, they can't do everything without you. You once told Conner that you saw something of yourself in him and you were right, and he knows it Tommy. I used to think Trent was just like you; he's been through the same things as you." She caught sight of his face and quickly changed tack. "You were both gentle and quiet but so strong and protective of the people around you, but when you said that to Conner I understood what you meant. You can't wrap them in bubble wrap Tommy they're power rangers."

…………………………………………………………………….

He'd agreed with her but she had gotten the feeling that his worries were far from over and she knew he hadn't been convinced. She sighed and placed the glasses she had been drying back in the cupboard, turning back to the counter she smiled at the approaching blue ranger.

Ethan placed his laptop down next to Conner and glanced at what his friend was doing. He guessed now was as good a time as any to mend some bridges; the whole team had felt guilty about not encouraging Conner and the serious nature of his discovery had made the guilt more acute.

"Hey Conner, I um…I wanted to show you something." Conner looked up enquiringly as Ethan turned the laptop screen to face him. "I thought you might get a bit confused staring at a load of highlighted sheets so I put all the data you collected onto this new software I got."

"Wow, thanks Ethan!" Conner looked surprised at Ethan's interest in what he was doing but shifted his stool so Ethan had more room. Realizing he wasn't about to be rejected Ethan began to enthusiastically describe what the program could do to help. Hayley smiled as Kira saw what was happening and left her band to join the two boys sat at the counter, asking Ethan questions about the data.

She watched as the cautious white ranger stopped cleaning the table and glanced a little apprehensively at the others. Hayley knew that Trent and Conner had always been a little unsure of each other; Conner's reaction to Trent's secrets hadn't been all that encouraging and Trent had never really gotten over his experiences, but from the way he watched the others she guessed he wanted to change that. She walked over to him and took the tray from his hands.

"It's dying down now Trent, why don't you take the rest of the evening off?" He gave her a grateful smile and walked over to his friends.

"Um, hey you guys." The others turned and smiled at him. He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Conner. "I used the logs in the computer to reproduce the energy levels of each of our powers, so we can tell the similarities and differences."

Conner pulled him up a stool between him and Ethan. "Great, maybe we can find a pattern or something on Ethan's computer, that way we would be able to reproduce this new ranger's power and see exactly what it does.

"Yeah," Ethan rejoined. "And it'll be really interesting to see what our powers actually consist of; you never know we might find something that could help us break the hold Mezagog has on your father Trent!"

Hayley smiled as she watched the team pulling itself together, all they needed now was for their teacher to start believing again; the team still wasn't whole…

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Tommy waited for someone to pick up the other end. It had been a long day and everything had become too much; first Conner had discovered that their identities were known by the new ranger and then he had gone and messed it up with Grace. Every doubt had poured in on him like a truck load of sand and even his conversation with Hayley hadn't helped.

What he needed was a friendly ear, the kind of ear that had heard a few things in its lifetime. The kind of friend who knew everything there was to know about you. What he needed was someone to tell every little secret to, and then he needed to listen to what they told him and they would tell him what he needed to hear.

There was a click as the line was picked up. _"Hello?"_

"Hey Bro."

What he needed was a little comfort…

**A/N **_**A little melancholy but heart warming all the same. I guess it's the exam blues, I can't seem to write anything particularly cheerful, well there was chapter 17 but I think that was just a fluke! Please read and then share your thoughts! Xxx**_


	21. Strangers

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while I've been so busy and stressed but now I have my results I'm okay; I got into my university so it's all good! **

**Strangers to each other and familiar to others, some friendships last forever…**

**One stranger meets another but both strangers are familiar to many, but to those who are familiar they are still strangers, what's stranger still is that strangers are sometimes familiar friends…Ha ha, try and work that little riddle out! X**

**Chapter 21 – Strangers**

Kira glanced around the table idly; she didn't know what they were doing there really. They could have gone to the Cyber café but Conner had said that it was too busy for them to talk about ranger stuff without being over heard. They were sat outside the school on one of the benches; despite the fact school had finished Ethan was writing an essay for his English class and Conner and Trent were messing around with some new data on Ethan's laptop. Kira knew she should be working but the sun was making her tired and warm, it was hard to concentrate when your head was else where. Conner and Trent were currently arguing but Kira couldn't seem to grasp what it was actually about and Ethan didn't seem to care so she stayed well out of it.

She found herself watching a motorbike pull up and park amongst the few cars that there were still in the teacher's car park. The guy who pulled off his helmet wasn't exactly bad looking, she glanced guiltily at Trent who was none the wiser, and she turned her attention back. The guy was obviously older and was built like an athlete with broad shoulders and muscles. He looked about as though looking for someone and upon catching sight of the teenagers at the table, began to walk over with a smile on his face. The others became aware of his approach and quickly closed the laptop, turning to face him.

"Um hey guys," Kira looked up at him with an enquiring smile on her face, there was something about this guy…

"I was wondering if knew where I could find Dr. Oliver? He works here, he's a teacher." He glanced at the laptop but turned his smile back to Conner who was closest. Something almost familiar…

Conner placed a hand on the laptop as though protecting it. "Yeah sure, I think he's still in school. He'll probably be in his class room; it's the science corridor room 612 on the left."

The guy smiled and nodded in gratitude. "Thanks guys, sorry for bothering you."

"No problem." Kira replied cheerfully and watched him walk off towards the side entrance.

"Who was that?" Ethan asked. Trent and Conner shrugged.

"Whoever he was Kira was in to him!" Conner smirked at the yellow ranger who was still staring in the direction the man had gone.

Ethan laughed at that. "Hey Kira I think he was a little old for you!" He and Conner fived each other and Trent tried his best to ignore them.

Kira hadn't heard a word. "Did he seem really familiar to you guys?" The others looked at her curiously and then shrugged, getting back to their work.

Kira shook her head. "I could have sworn…I don't know." She shook her head again and smiled at Trent who was looking questioningly at her.

…………………………………………………………………..

Jason wandered through the school aimlessly. The place didn't look that big but he was already lost and there didn't seem to be anyone he could ask. He was quite sure that he was in the wrong place; on one side of the corridor were posters about Shakespeare and on the other was stuff about the Civil War and even posters on Egypt. Definitely in the wrong place.

He supposed he could go and ask those kids again; that was if he could find the way out and besides they hadn't looked particularly happy at being interrupted. The way they'd stopped talking as he came over and the way they'd protected that laptop. Although he did remember Tommy telling him how one boy had sent off the sprinklers around the school on his first day with his laptop. Jason chuckled, the wonders of technology; it was the kind of thing he might have done at their age although it was likely only Billy would have been able to work it and there was little chance of him using it like that.

The faint sound of music halfway down the corridor caught his attention; someone was humming along, which meant someone to get directions from. He stuck his head in the doorway and for a moment couldn't see anyone; she was stood on a stool putting books on a shelf that was too high to be useful.

He cleared his throat. "Um hi, I was wondering if-" he got no further as she gave a start at his voice and dropped the books, sending a couple tumbling from the shelf hitting her on the way down.

"Jesus!" She cursed. The stool wobbled precariously and Jason prepared to rush forward and catch her but she maintained her balance by gripping the shelf. Once it was steady she turned a face that looked a little flustered from momentary panic and possibly annoyance, to look at him. He put down his bag and went towards her.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized as he began to pick up the books.

"Its fine honestly, it's okay." She did sound a little annoyed but the tone seemed to suggest today had been a long day and the books were just the icing on the cake. He offered her a hand to get down from the school which she took after a small hesitation. It was then that she seemed to catch sight of him properly, she grinned at him.

"I know you!" She said. Jason thought she looked a lot better when she smiled; the harassment left her face and her eyes lit up. "You must be Jason!" He took the offered hand and shook it.

"You'll be looking for Tommy then." She continued before he could say anything.

"Yeah," He replied sheepishly. "I'm afraid I got lost though."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Oh it's easily done, this place doesn't look big but if you don't know your way around it just seems to expand!" She smiled up at him again. "I'll show you the way if you want?" Jason was about to say he'd help her with the books as an apology but she was already walking out of the classroom.

"Are you here long?" She made polite conversation as she led him to the science corridor. Jason smiled; polite but genuinely interested.

"It kind of depends." He replied it was a little vague but he honestly had no clue; Tommy hadn't sounded so good.

There was a few moments silence in which he noted that the posters had changed to stuff about the atom and dinosaurs. "He'll be pleased to see you." The young woman turned to look at him with a smile that looked slightly sad. She motioned to the open door, but manners dictated that ladies went first, she looked a little nervous at that and it made him wonder why she seemed unwilling to enter.

She stepped in but paused as if unsure what to do; Jason cleared his throat, he didn't want to stand there forever. Tommy seemed to spring out of his seat, pulling off his glasses; Jason wanted to laugh at how nervous his friend was, it was almost a miracle he hadn't fainted in fright.

"Grace." Jason noted that he sounded surprised, but Grace quickly intervened before Tommy could say something else.

"You have a visitor." She hurriedly stepped to one side, letting Jason through the door.

"Jase?" Tommy looked shocked but almost immediately a grin split his face. He strode forward and clasped Jason's arm. "Oh man it's good to see you Bro!" He said, he sounded relieved. Jason couldn't help but smile; he felt the same way too. The atmosphere changed almost instantly as Tommy remembered the woman in the doorway, he opened his mouth to say something but she gave a nervous smile to them both, not meeting Tommy's eyes before closing the door behind her.

Jason watched Tommy; he looked slightly crestfallen and wore that look he had that suggested he was mentally kicking himself. Jason sighed; it looked as though he had a lot of work to do.

……………………………………………….

Tommy put the plate of lasagna down in front of his friend and grinned when he caught sight of his face; Jason looked surprised and perhaps a little wary.

"Bro you learned to cook?"

"Well I had to at some point, and as you can see now I can do it without burning down the kitchen!"

"And it's safe for me to eat?" Jason poked the food dubiously.

"Well if you're not hungry…" Tommy made to take away the plate, laughing when Jason pulled it back.

"You've got to be kidding me, I'm starving! I was starting to wonder what a guy had to do to get some food around here!" He grabbed a fork and attacked his food with relish but then quite suddenly stopped and glared at his friend.

"If this gives me food poisoning Tommy I'll kick your ass."

Tommy smirked. "I'd like to see you try."

Before Jason could reply the door bell rang and Tommy gave a knowing sigh. "Here comes trouble." He said and went to answer it.

He came back moments later with four teenagers in tow; Jason smiled as he recognized them as the teenagers from outside the school. Tommy pulled out four extra plates, motioning for them to sit down and help themselves.

"Friday's lasagna night." He said with a shrug. "It's Rocky's family recipe." Jason nodded; that explained its popularity. Tommy turned back to the teenagers who were all staring at Jason with curiosity. "Guys this is Jason. Jason this is the team."

There was a few moments silence. "Holy shit!" The one dressed in red said quite suddenly, Jason grinned at his reaction.

"You must be Conner." He turned to the others. "So I'm guessing you're Kira, you're Trent and you must be Ethan?" Each member nodded their head and extended a hand in greeting.

"This is surreal." Kira said with a shake of her head. "I knew I'd recognized you from somewhere; it was Dr.O's video on the history of the power rangers."

"I can't believe this!" Conner could barely sit still in his excitement. "You were the first red ranger, this is unbelievable! I have so many questions to ask you-" Jason watched as Kira put a restraining hand on her friend's arm and Trent gave the tiniest shake of his head, Kira's eyes flickered over to Tommy and then back to her plate.

"So," Ethan covered hurriedly. "How long are you planning to stay here? I mean is this just a visit?" Jason glanced at Tommy who was flicking his food around his plate.

"Um, I haven't really decided, I just needed a break so I thought I'd come and see an old friend. How long I stay depends on how long Tommy is willing to do my laundry for!" Tommy looked up and laughed at that.

"What makes you think I'll do any of it?"

The four teenagers had finally left although Conner had almost had to be dragged away by his fellow team mates. Tommy had looked exhausted after they left and Jason could see lack of sleep was taking its toll on his friend; he had suggested calling it a night but Tommy had seemed a little reluctant to go so they sat talking. From what Jason could guess being a mentor was starting to wear Tommy out and having four young power rangers around all the time must be exhausting. The lair was open for them at all times and the house too, Tommy seemed to barely get any time to himself; he helped them with homework, discussed rangering, trained them and then fought monsters with them. Most of it seemed to be at Tommy's insistence as well; constantly afraid he wasn't doing a good job, that his lack of interest would get them killed. He'd seen the furtive glances at dinner; the team was aware that Tommy wasn't having such a good time and they seemed to be worried about his self esteem, if their reaction to Conner's request was anything to go by. Tommy had already told Jason how bad he felt about not giving Conner more encouragement, or for not solving Trent's problems and not being able to understand Kira more.

Jason understood the worries but none of them were really Tommy's fault; Kira had Hayley, Ethan seemed a relatively straight forward guy and Conner was just a little over enthusiastic. Trent was a little more problematic but from what he could tell Tommy had done the best he could; no one had ever been able to solve Tommy's problem with being evil so it was unlikely Tommy himself would know all the answers. His friend was being too hard on himself; what with teenagers to look after, bad dreams and lack of sleep, a new and mysterious ranger and to top it off it seemed he was having some problems with women!

**A/N **_**Jason to the rescue! This chapter didn't really go the way I wanted it to but I had to give Jason all the information as quickly as possible otherwise we'd have like seven chapters on how craply (yes I know that's not a word) things are going for Tommy! That would only be interesting if you didn't already know that, so you see what I'm saying? As usual read and review! Xxx**_


	22. A Plan is Born

**Okay, making up for leaving it so long by putting up a second chapter quickly! I'm glad you guys have really enjoyed the story so far and thanks for all your comments, oh and thank you Chylea for your congrats! **

**As always I hope you all enjoy x**

**IMPORTANT NOTE**

**Okay if everyone's like me I tend to skip the baddies having their conversations, I concentrate on the power rangers lives but trust me in this chapter listening to the baddies is IMPORTANT!**

**Plans, plans, plans…what have our characters got up their sleeves and will it be a nice surprise or a nasty one?**

**Chapter 22 – A plan is born…**

Jason wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel and turned to look at Tommy who was sat doing 'teachery things' as Jason liked to call it.

"You've been training them well bro!" He called over. Tommy looked a little surprised but then smiled.

Jason sighed. _'Yes Tom, you did good you just have to believe it too. Damn, you looked surprised to get a compliment, how far did your self belief drop?'_

"We train every other day." Kira said to him as the others went for a drink. "We often go to the woods and stuff so we can learn to fight on different terrain." Jason nodded, impressed with the strategy. "Tommy doesn't think he's any good does he?" Jason turned back to Kira in surprise. "Is that why you're here, to…help him?"

Jason had been impressed by everything he had seen so far, despite Conner's hyperactivity he could pull himself together instantly and become the ideal leader. Ethan could at times be a little well…like he had his head in the clouds, but when they were fighting he became clear headed and calm. Kira it seemed was very astute, something Tommy had instantly recognized, she saw and understood a lot of things the others didn't but she could kick ass too and hold her own in a fight. Ethan maybe the brains but Kira was the intelligence.

"I guess so," Jason replied to her question, there was no point in lying to her. "He just hasn't been feeling so great lately so I thought I'd help out."

"He's done a lot for us all, even if he doesn't think so." Kira said. "Conner's a lot more mature, he's good with responsibility now and Ethan's a lot more sociable and perhaps more focused as well." She gestured to where the three boys were sat on the grass, drinking and talking. "He's helped Trent too, I guess they understand each other, and he's gotten much more confident even with all this stuff about his father."

"What about you Kira?" Jason asked out of curiosity.

"Me?" She replied blankly.

"Yeah, I mean he worries about how you feel about being the only girl."

"Oh sure it would be nice to have another girl on the team, but I don't know any in Reefside that could take it on! Besides I do well enough; I can talk to Hayley, oh and Grace."

"Grace?" Jason thought he knew who they were talking about, and whether or not Tommy realized it he had said a few things that had sparked Jason's interest.

"Yeah," Kira gave a good natured shrug. "She's a history teacher at Reefside, she's pretty good at listening; I don't know what she said to him but I think she helped Trent as well." She leaned in conspiratorially. "I think she and Dr.O kinda' like each other too."

Jason raised an eyebrow, this was interesting. "Really?"

"Yeah but I get the feeling they're both pretty shy."

………………………………………………………………………..

"My Lord." Elsa bowed her head to the figure sat in the chair. Mezagog slowly turned his head to look at her.

"Well?" The raspy voice echoed in the dark room.

"Tommy Oliver has a new friend in town; I thought we might shake him up a little bit."

Mezagog sighed. "Is that all you have Elsa? I don't care about his friends I care about the green ranger; I want her stopped or I want her to join us!" His impatience mounted and he began to shout. "I have no interest in his friend; he is of no importance easily brushed aside once the power rangers have been crushed. But I have seen little progress on that front so do not speak to me unless you know something useful!"

"My Lord." Elsa grimaced at the sound of Zeltrax approaching. "My plan may now be taken further."

Mezagog sat up, his interest piqued. "Explain what this plan is Zeltrax and pray it pleases me."

Zeltrax bowed. "As you command. Having discovered the identity of the new ranger-"  
"I discovered that." Snapped Elsa. "Without that information you plan would not have worked!"

"I would have-" Zeltrax began angrily.

"Silence!" Mezagog stood abruptly. "The plan Zeltrax."

Zeltrax bowed again. "It is clear that the identity of this ranger is unknown to Oliver and his team, we can perhaps use this against them; we could create a clone-"  
"That has been done already you idiots!" Mezagog gripped Zeltrax about the neck. "I don't want tired plans that didn't work the first time; I want something new and effective."

Elsa placed a hand on Mezagog's rigid arm. "Sire," She purred. "I believe I have the perfect plan." Mezagog deposited Zeltrax on the floor unceremoniously.

Seeing that she had his full attention she continued. "The puny rangers have been collecting information on their powers which has given me a useful idea; we use this new ranger's power against herself. She can heal any wound but what if there were too many to handle?"

Mezagog seemed to consider this for a moment. "Continue." He murmured gesturing for her to sit on his throne, Elsa raised an eyebrow but complied throwing a triumphant look at Zeltrax.

"As you know my Lord I have been experimenting with technology that will give the tyrannodrones a boost in power, unfortunately it has been relatively unsuccessful but I can use the same technology to drain power."

Mezagog waved a claw impatiently. "It has been done Elsa, you are trying my patience."

Elsa hurried to explain. "This time it will affect only the green ranger and in such a way that the power rangers will be helpless to stop it. We get rid of them one by one, starting with the green ranger, using her power against her, using their nature against themselves."

Zeltrax shook his head. "You have still not told us what you intend to do." He growled.

"Then listen carefully." She snarled and turned back to Mezagog. "We power boost a monster whose gift is pain, the power rangers will be injured and our little green friend will want to help because she is kind and caring. She uses her power to heal them, but so many wounds are exhausting and when she heals them she assimilates their wounds instead."

There was a few moments silence in the darkness and then Mezagog began to laugh…

**A/N **_**Ho ho ho, an evil laugh! Isn't their plan dastardly? Don't worry if you don't quite understand it's supposed to be in its first stages and we will go back to Mezagog and his cronies to find out precisely what they're doing later. As always review my lovelies! Xxx**_


	23. Stranger Still

**Excuse the author's not at the bottom, I wrote it during in exam revision which is why I sound irritated! Sorry about all the delays between chapters; I'm preparing to go to university and on top of all that I'm moving house ******

**Conner's asking questions…**

**Chapter 23 – Stranger still…**

Hayley sat back with a sigh. "Well I think it's safe to say those energy readings weren't a dino egg after all Tommy. In fact I'm betting it's where our green friend got their powers from; the computer wouldn't have been able to distinguish between the two unless I'd been running a more detailed scan."

Tommy slumped into his seat and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "See what I mean Jase? We have another problem caused by me and my blunders."

Conner watched as Jason clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Come on Tommy this isn't all your fault, I lose stuff all the time, and anyone could have picked that map up."

Hayley stood and smiled at the two men. "It's not all bad Tommy after all Mezagog didn't pick it up." She gave a small shrug before leaving for the Cyber Café.

"It would still be good if we at least had some idea of who **had **picked it up though." Said Tommy turning to Jason.

"When did you last have it?" Jason asked.

"Probably at school I must have dropped it, or left it some where."

"You met Grace that day didn't you?" Jason grinned and hoped the change of topic would barely be noticed.

"Yeah." Replied Tommy with a rueful sigh; apparently it had worked.

Something at the back of Conner's head seemed to poke him, there was something important and it was there on the tip of his tongue, he opened his mouth…

"Hey dude you asked me to help you," Ethan nudged him, annoyed. "And because you asked it would be nice if you listened."

Conner turned to look at Ethan. "What?"

"Are you okay? You look a little spaced out do you wanna' call it a day?"

"Yeah," Conner replied vaguely. "Yeah, I can't seem to concentrate." He turned back to Tommy and Jason but the topic of conversation had changed again.

"And then they put Kim in Rita's clothes, man it was funny; she did the voice and everything!" Jason and Tommy burst out laughing and Conner shook his head. He couldn't think what it had been, there had been something important and now…he shrugged; whatever it was it obviously wasn't that important…and who was Rita?

……………………………………………………………..

Kira sighed at the boy in front of her; he looked hopeful with his pen and notebook.

"If you're not careful you'll end up like Cassidy." She told Conner who shot her an offended look.

"Seriously Kira, I need to know what everyone did so I can find out what healed them."

"I thought you said it was the green ranger?" Kira replied with a frown.

"Well it's possible but it's also possible that it was just some kind of energy boost, at least that's what Hayley says."

Kira shrugged at Trent who was sat next to her. "Okay major events on that day…um, well we fought Elsa and the Tyrannodrones and they were all freakily power boosted. They left though…has anyone worked out why yet?" Kira turned to look at Trent who shook his head. "Well yeah, I mean that was pretty major; they were winning and then they leave, that's just not normal they were seriously kicking –"

"Okay Kira," Conner interrupted hastily. "We don't need your life story; I was thinking something relatively short." Kira looked unimpressed and turned to Trent who shrugged nervously.

"You were digressing Kira." She glared at them both and then continued.

"I went to hand in my essay to Grace; she passed out so I went and got Dr.O." She smiled sweetly up at Conner. "And I had spaghetti for dinner."

Conner pretended to ignore her and turned to Trent. "What about you?"

"Well, there was the fight like Kira said and I was completely exhausted, I mean I actually fell asleep in one of my classes." He didn't want to mention the ensuing conversation with Grace, it was private. "I bumped into Kira so we had lunch and then I went to see Dr.O and then Kira ran in so we went to help Grace."

"Your turn." Kira said happily, grabbing the pad from Conner. "So," She continued in a fake deep voice. "Did you see anything unusual?"

Conner glared at her. "Kira I was being serious."

"So am I, now be quiet. Did you do anything important?"

"Well there was a football game at-"

"Boring!" Kira groaned. "Do you really rate football above a fight with Elsa?" Conner ignored her question and glared at Trent who was grinning at him.

"Did anyone touch you?" Kira leaned forward with a conspiring whisper. Trent chuckled

"You're sick you know that?" Conner replied.  
"What?" Kira said innocently. "How did you get healed if you weren't touched? I think it's pretty valid question!"

Trent leaned in and murmured to Kira. "Well there was this one time that Nathan tackled him in football and kind of well… touched him, and he didn't want to say anything in case it wasn't normal but-" He was forced to duck as Conner took a swipe at him from across the table, Trent and Kira were both laughing.

"You sick bastard!" Conner said but he couldn't help but smile all the same.

"You see?" Kira said when the laughter had stopped. "People touch you all the time, whether you lend them a pen, hold hands or simply brush past each other in the corridor. It's an impossible task Conner half the time you don't notice when you've been touched."

"I hate to say," Trent said ruefully. "But I think she's right."

……………………………………………………………………………..

Conner sat at his desk sifting through all the paper he had gathered in his search. The latest addition was the collection of his team mates' account of the day. He had to admit that what Kira had said was probably all too true; he could never know every touch that had passed between them and other people but maybe if he discovered a similarity in who they were hanging out with.

So far the only thing they had all done was go and help Grace when she fainted at the end of the day.

Similarities…but that meant…

"Conner!" The yell made him jump and he turned away from his desk.

"Yeah mom?" he yelled back, interrupted again.

"Have you done your laundry?"

Conner rolled his eyes. "Yes mom." He called back.

"Then how many times do have to say not to use so much fabric softener? We've run out again!"

"Mom I'm trying to work here! I'll get some tomorrow!" With an exasperated sigh he turned back to his desk. What had he been doing? Great he'd lost his thread again…

**A/N **_**References to Rita and Kim being in her clothes comes from season 2 episode 'Beauty and the Beast.' **_

_**Conner's discovery is thwarted again, but for how long? Join us next time for another installment of… 'My mother keeps interrupting my revision with trivial matters!' See I'm not stressed, or pissed off! I'm just going to write my story instead because I'm going to fail my exams! Isn't it a shame I can't turn this into my career, my livelihood? Then I wouldn't have to worry about exams and university! Tell you what else is a shame; that you can't read sarcasm…**_


	24. Second Phase part I

**One plan enters its second phase and Grace is a solution to a problem.**

**Chapter 24 – Second Phase (part 1)**

Tommy wandered through the park, his hands pushed into his pockets and listening to Jason's comforting voice. He'd been feeling much better since his best friend had arrived; he'd had more time to himself which although weird was a wonderful relief; he had a feeling that Jason had said something to the four teens but he tried not to worry because they weren't missing out on anything. Jason sparred with them every other day and even added to their moves and style as well as teaching them more stuff about Kata; Tommy had had to stop those lessons being unable to perform them himself, his mind had been in too much turmoil to concentrate.

The sleep hadn't gotten any better though, it was possible Jason knew about that but Tommy had tried to hide it from him as much as he could. There had been fewer nightmares since he had arrived which was good because on the second night he had found himself being shaken awake by a concerned Jason who had come close to getting a black eye for his trouble.

Jason had been really concerned about it, Tommy had managed to shrug it off pretending it was just a normal nightmare, but he knew that Jason had guessed that most were about his days as a green ranger. He'd taken to having a glass of wine before he went to bed; wine for some reason made him tired; it helped him sleep and there were no dreams…

There had been the idea that alcohol was a slippery slope but Tommy was comforted by the fact that he wasn't a big drinker, hating the way it addled your brains, but he surmised that one on bad days couldn't be too harmful.

Jason watched his friend from the corner of his eye and knew that Tommy wasn't really listening but left him to his deep thinking as he chattered on about the girls wanting a reunion of the original team.

His friend still looked tired though, there were dark shadows beneath his eyes and he seemed pale. He'd been resting a lot lately, no doubt unable to sleep for the nightmares, Jason knew he was trying to hide them from him but that second night when Tommy had woken him with his yells he'd guessed the cause. Tommy had always had those nightmares; there had been times when they were kids that they had stayed at each other's houses and Tommy hadn't been able to hide them then, but Tommy had always shrugged them off and neither of them had ever properly talked about them. They seemed to lessen when Tommy's friends were around though and that had helped Jason guess what they were about, that and Tommy's constant guilt. Tommy hadn't denied it.

Jason smiled at his friend, he'd been getting better; lack of peace and quiet and constant work had made it worse and now Tommy was almost back to his old self. Even the rest of his team had seen it; Conner had joked that the older men were acting like teenagers again; Jason smiled again at that thought

It was time; he decided, that he put the plan he and Kira had conjured up into its second phase after all he wouldn't be around much longer, he had a job that he had to go back to but first he had to make sure his bro was going to be okay. Now all he had to do was get Tommy's attention…

"So are you going to that thing at Hayley's café tonight?" He said at last, catching Tommy's attention with a nudge.

"What thing?" Tommy looked up in surprise.

Jason laughed. "I forgot you had a short memory! You know Kira's performance tonight, apparently this one's pretty special and she's going to do a couple of duets with this other girl, she's really nervous about it. Come on Tom, she kept talking about it and she's been practicing it for weeks, every time we go in she's rehearsing!"

"Oh Yeah," Tommy said sheepishly. "I dunno' bro I might give it a miss I'm pretty tired."

"Come on it'll do you good to get out." Jason coaxed. "Besides we haven't done much together since the whole Divatox fiasco."

"What are you talking about?" Tommy replied indignantly. "I came and stayed with you for two weeks last year and before that you were traveling and I was doing my teacher training. We always share a phone call a week and since you got here we've-"

"Whoa bro!" Jason lifted his hands in defeat. "I get that but we need to get you out, so it's either this or a bar and there's no way I want to repeat what happened last time…"

The two of them had gone to a bar with Adam and had proceeded to try and drink each other under the table. They hadn't realized that Adam could hold his drink like an ox and seemed to be nigh incapable of becoming drunk, he had been the only sober one that night and had had to walk Jason and Tommy to the door of Jason's house. It became apparent that even doing that had not worked, Adam had taken them home but once he had left Jason and Tommy had decided to go for walk and woken three miles away from the house on someone's porch. It had been relatively surreal because the house had been owned by a little old lady who seemed to think it amusing and glad of the company had made them breakfast. The rest of that day had been spent clearing and tidying her garden as a thank you, Jason still visited every once in a while.

"Hell no." Replied Tommy in agreement. "I still maintain that the bramble bush attacked me." Jason burst out laughing, remembering Tommy's face as he sat amongst the thorns.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Hayley pulled open the door to the café with a smile; Grace returned it before she stepped in and looked around in confusion.

"Where is everyone today?" She turned to Hayley again.

"Oh, Kira's practicing all day for tonight so I said I'd close for her."

Grace nodded. "I see, in that case I'd better go."

Hayley shook her head and led her over to the counter. "I'll open for particular people," She said; she liked Grace and upon seeing the attraction between her and Tommy had become involved in Jason and Kira's plan. The hope was that Tommy and Grace would get thrown together at Kira's show and they could stop avoiding each other and go on another date. "Besides," She continued to Grace. "I don't think Kira will mind you being here, in fact she looks like she could do with some company."

Grace turned to look at Kira, she was sat on her own whilst the rest of the band tuned their instruments; she looked dejected. Grace slid from her stool and wandered over to where the yellow and black clad girl was sat, Hayley followed.

"Hey Kira, what's wrong?"

Kira glanced up and managed a smile before she sighed. "Hey Grace. Hayley I think you're going to have to cancel the show tonight."

"Why?" Hayley asked. "You're not nervous are you?"

"No," Kira slumped in her seat. "Lisa's lost her voice so she can't sing with me, we obviously practiced too much and she got sick."

"Oh Kira I'm sorry." Hayley placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"It wouldn't be so bad it's just that this show wasn't just about me, it was for her and I was really excited about doing a duet with her; I don't often get to do them and they're my weakest point in singing."

"Can't you find someone else?" Grace asked.

"No, no one else can really sing well enough and besides they'd have to know all the songs which basically means they would had to have been here almost everyday listening to me practice like you two did."

Grace sighed; it had been quite therapeutic listening to Kira sing whilst she did her work. She had avoided the place for a while knowing that Tommy spent quite a lot of time there but Kira had asked her along and she had discovered that Tommy was now spending most of his free time with Jason, catching up, Kira had said.

Hayley sighed, the show would have brought in a lot of customers; not that she was lacking in them already but she had to be practical, she had a business to run. Then there was poor Kira who was really upset by the whole thing, all her nerves had been building up to this show and after all that tension it seemed she would have to go through it again later. Then of course there was the plan Jason and Kira had put in place, although that was the least of Kira's worries no doubt the yellow ranger would get annoyed about it at a later date.

The idea popped into Hayley's head quite suddenly and once it was there she couldn't seem to shake it. It was a way to solve all their problems and it was something Tommy had mentioned in passing…

"What about you Grace?"

Grace looked at her incredulously. "Me?" Kira looked up in interest.

"Yeah," Hayley continued. "Tommy said something about you being in a band at high school, weren't you the lead singer?"

Kira had brightened considerably and as well as looking surprised she looked hopeful.

Grace turned bright red. "Yeah well, that was years ago I'm probably no…that is to say I…I don't sing anymore it was just a hobby-"

"But you can still sing?" Asked Kira excitedly, the rest of her band began to approach looking hopeful.

Hayley thought Grace looked like a rabbit trapped in the head lights. "Well I'm not sure about this Kira." She stuttered.

Kira dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "It'll be fine, we've got a day to practice and you can pick out a couple of songs to do solo if you want-"

Grace ignored the rest of Kira's chatter as she was dragged away; she turned and shot a look at Hayley that suggested that she was going to die when Grace got free. Hayley just grinned and started to get ready for evening performance.

**A/N **_**Um, I'm actually quite happy despite my exams (although they'll probably be over by the time I post this, you see I'm 13 chapters ahead of the posting) I had a good night last night I went to a friend's BBQ…and I don't know why I'm telling you this I'm really sorry, I digress; it's a habit of mine. Okay chappies I hope you enjoyed, and as always please review! x**_


	25. Second Phase part II

**Life isn't always a song and a dance.**

**Chapter 25 – Second Phase (part 2)**

**I had serious problems with this chapter; thank God I write ahead of posting, it's for reasons like this! Can you imagine what would happen if I took a month on this chapter when my story needs updating? There would be chaos, and possibly an angry mob! Tee Hee!**

Jason sighed as he put down the phone, and turned back to where Tommy was sat. He'd known they hadn't much time left but Tommy still wasn't back to normal.

"Sorry Bro," He said with a shake of his head. "They need me back within the next two days; I'll have to leave tomorrow morning."

Tommy shrugged; he'd had to go back eventually. "Oh well, you've managed to stay a couple of weeks at any rate we had a good time!"

"Yes, but…" Jason trailed off as he realized what he was about to say. Tommy gave him a small smile; he understood what was eating his friend.

"You've done a lot for me bro, and I'm really grateful; I needed this…" He scrubbed a hand through his hair, embarrassed. "Well it's just like what Hayley said, I'm Power Ranger Jase; you can't wrap me up in bubble wrap!" Jason laughed at that. "I am really grateful, you know that don't you?" Tommy continued.

"Of course," Jason clasped Tommy's arm. "I know it, and you know that any time-"

"Yeah," Tommy said with a smile. "Yeah I know."

There were a few moments of silence and then Jason stood up. "Right, let's eat and then we'll go to this thing of Kira's." He said briskly, Tommy nodded in agreement.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Hayley and Kira watched Grace fortify herself with another glass of wine; all three of them had worried expressions on their faces.

"This is such a terrible idea." Grace said, her eyes scanning the café which was beginning to fill up for the evening.

"It'll be fine." Soothed Hayley. "You're just worrying too much that's all. You'll be great!" She looked at Kira for support.

"Yeah," Kira said bracingly. "You're really good Grace, I wouldn't let you do this if you weren't!" She shrugged when Hayley frowned at her.

"I haven't done this in a very long time," Grace replied nervously. "It's all very well doing it in front of six or seven people but more than that and I'm in trouble. I hate performing to an audience."

"But you were in a band," Hayley said with a smile. "You'll do fine, you've done this before, and it's just the same."

"The same?" Grace said with a nervous laugh. "That's the problem; why do you think our band wasn't that successful? Because their lead singer was terrified of people!" She put her head on the counter and groaned. Hayley carefully moved the glass of wine away from Grace and shot Kira a worried look, Kira waved it away with a hand and mouthed 'she'll be fine' but Hayley didn't see the nervous look Kira gave Grace's hunched figure.

"Hey Kira!" A voice brought back Hayley and Kira from their worries.

"Hey Dr.O I didn't think you were coming!" Kira lied, a bright smile on her face. She and Hayley grinned at each other as another barely audible groan came from Grace's curled form

Grace wanted to curl up and die, this night could not get any worse because now Tommy and Jason were here, not that she was really surprised but a girl liked to be wrong occasionally.

"Grace?" Great, now she was going have to turn around and talk to them. She did exactly that, a large grin plastered on to her face.

"Hey Jason!"

"I thought it was you!" Jason said in fake surprise. "Hey look Tommy its Grace!"

She was pleased in a rather vindictive part of her, that he looked just as surprised and probably just as unhappy about the situation. They smiled weakly at each other, besides it was hardly her fault she wasn't particularly happy with him; first there was the kissing stuff and now it was his fault she was going to have to stand up and sing.

Kira suddenly stood and made some excuse about needing to do some last minute checks with the rest of the band, Hayley and Jason began talking too, effectively leaving Grace and Tommy alone together. There were a few moments of awkward silence.

"So," Tommy said slowly. "I didn't know you were planning on coming tonight."

Grace grimaced but was glad they were ignoring the problems. "I wasn't planning to; I kind of got roped in by Kira."

"Yes, she can be pretty persuasive." Tommy wanted to cry at how lame he sounded. There was more silence whilst each wondered what to talk about; finally it became too unbearable for Tommy.

"Look Grace about-"He was cut off abruptly as she turned to him with a smile.

"Actually it's your fault I'm here!" She said with a little laugh, not wanting the conversation to go down that particular route.

"My fault?" Tommy asked in confusion, forgetting what he wanted to say.

Grace nodded but before she could elaborate Kira came bounding up and began to drag her away. "Come on Grace, its time to get started!"

Tommy watched in confusion as Kira and Grace got up on stage and the band began tuning up. He turned to Hayley and Jason. "Wha-" He began, but he got no further as Jason handed him a beer.

"You'll never guess what; Hayley says Grace is going to be singing with Kira tonight! You never said she could sing bro."

"I forgot." Tommy replied, not taking his eyes from the stage where Kira was introducing the first song and Grace looked as though she was going to throw up.

Jason rolled his eyes and laughed. "Why does that not surprise me?" He grinned at Hayley as he watched his friend's eyes follow one particular figure on the stage; this was going to be a fun night…

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Tommy couldn't believe how good she was at singing; she'd said she hated it and that she wasn't very good, but her voice was incredibly powerful and her range exceeded even Kira's. Kira had sung most of the songs so far and they'd done a load of duets, they sounded really good together and in the break they'd been the centre of attention. Tommy hadn't known what to say to her when she and Kira came to talk to them; Conner, Ethan and Jason had been making her blush with all their compliments and he'd just stood there like a lemming.

"Hey guys," Kira's voice on the mike brought him out of his thoughts. "She's a little nervous but now its Grace's turn to do a solo!" Grace looked like she'd rather melt on the spot but with a deep breath she stepped up to the microphone and nodded to the others; Kira struck the first cords on the guitar.

Kiss me out of the bearded barley.  
Lightly, beside the green, green grass.   
Swing, swing, swing the spinning step.  
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress.

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight.  
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.   
Lift your open hand.  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance,  
silver moon's sparkling.  
So kiss me.

Tommy gave a sigh as Kira's voice entwined with Grace's in the chorus. Kisses were dangerous things; if only it was all about fireflies and moons, he wouldn't have such a problem with it then. The problem was that years of combat had taught him to be realistic, he wasn't in the right frame of mind for Grace because she wanted those things; she deserved them and he couldn't give them to her. He came with a bunch of problems and burdens to carry; she didn't deserve the weight, not when she looked so pretty stood on that stage, dressed in a little green dress that floated around her knees. She had said that she didn't enjoy singing but even from here he could see the light in her eyes, the happiness that she exuded.

Kiss me down by the broken tree house.  
Swing me high upon its hanging tire.   
Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat.  
We'll take the trail marked on your father's map.

Tommy turned to Jason. "Hey bro, can we get out of here?" Jason looked down at him in surprise; he had thought that once Tommy had seen Grace there would have had to have been a major disaster to pry him away from her. Admittedly the plan had gone slightly awry what with Grace being on stage and Tommy losing the power of speech. He saw something on Tommy's face though that stopped him from protesting or even making a joke. "Sure, what did you want to go home?"

Tommy smiled at Jason's worried face. "No, I just fancied spending more time with you; after all you leave in the morning. I was kind of hoping you'd enter into a wager with me." Jason raised a questioning eyebrow, aware of the sneaky expression on Tommy's face. "It's been a while and I've a stronger constitution now," He continued as they made their way to the door. "I'm sure I could drink you under the table easily!"

Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight.  
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.   
Lift your open hand.  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance,  
silver moon's sparkling.  
So kiss me.

The sound of music followed them out into the night like the glitter of a moon and dancing fireflies…

_**A/N Okay if you hated this chapter all I can say is me too! I can't help it, there's something I really dislike about it and I rewrote it like three times, so anyway I kind of rushed it near the end and I apologise but some things need to be over quickly! It is possible that it went wrong because I changed the plan; there were only supposed to be a couple more chapters after this; possibly three more but I changed the idea half way through writing the chapter to draw out the story and now there are loads more chapters to come, aren't you happy? See you can't be nasty about this chapter now! As always read and review, I live for your comments! xxx **_


	26. Love and Pain

**Okay people you have to promise me something; I had massive problems trying to figure out the name of my monster, I'm pleased with the idea and how it looks in my head but the name is killing me. So you have to promise not to kill yourself laughing over how terrible it sounds okay? I'll know if you did because I'll notice that you haven't reviewed… **

**Elsa discovers that there are similarities between love and pain, so can she use them to destroy the new Green Ranger?**

**Chapter 26 – Love and Pain **

Tommy wandered aimlessly down the empty corridor. Jason had left that morning and now he felt strangely despondent like he didn't really know what to do with himself. Last night had been fun enough; they hadn't been completely drunk after all Jason couldn't really afford a hang over when driving back home and Tommy never knew when the world might need saving.

Jason had tried talking about everything again; he knew, just as Tommy knew, that he wasn't back to normal yet; the green ranger still haunted his dreams and sleep was hard to attain. Tommy's lack of interest in the subject had made Jason sigh but knowing that pushing would do no good he had good naturedly changed the topic to Grace. Tommy had been any happier with that subject either and had ended snapping at Jason that he couldn't always have what he wanted and she would be in danger getting involved with him.

He turned the corner and right into Grace; he gave a muffled curse as they collided and the box she was carrying sprayed its contents across the floor. Tommy quickly dropped to the floor with her and began picking everything up. The awkwardness was obvious; they never met each other's eyes and she was stammering her apologies.

"I'm so sorry," She jittered. "I wasn't looking... I'm in my own world, wasn't watching…I'm sorry-"

"No," Tommy interrupted hurriedly; her nervousness putting him on edge. _Was she always carrying something heavy? _ "No it was my fault; I wasn't watching…you know what I'm like!" He offered her a small smile which she returned but the moment was quickly gone and the tense atmosphere returned.

"You were very good last night." Tommy offered with little better to say.

Grace blushed uncomfortably, dropping her eyes to the floor. "Um, thanks."

Tommy wanted to scream his frustration, the silence was killing him and he couldn't think of anything useful to say; he wanted to say what he felt but he wasn't even sure what it was. Even if he did he couldn't say it; she was safer not knowing …

"I have to go." She said quite suddenly, she looked surprised that the words had come out of her mouth.

"Yes." Tommy replied. He turned to watch her scurry away down the corridor. "Yes," He murmured to himself. "You need to go, it's not safe."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Elsa sneered as she watched the two pathetic Power rangers scrabble around on the floor. She shifted the glasses on her nose uncomfortably; Principal Randal was not someone she liked being but it served its purpose.

Dr. Oliver and Grace Peyton really were pathetic; they spent time avoiding each other and yet secretly wishing they would bump into each other, she could see it in the way they looked at each other and wandered down the corridors of the school like they had forgotten what they were living for. She would never mention any of this to Zeltrax and her master; Zeltrax would never cease hounding her over it since he had already mocked her 'interest' in Dr. Oliver. Elsa sneered again to herself as the two figures stood in uncomfortable silence, their pain would be a useful weapon but how would she explain it to Mezagog? Besides she didn't understand it; she could see that the black ranger was attractive but love was entirely different concept.

She gave a frustrated sigh as Grace walked away and Tommy simply stood there watching. She moved away from the doorway so that she would remain unseen and began to make her way to Principal Randal's office.

She sauntered into her office, slamming her door nonchalantly, and stood by the window watching the last few students leave for home. Love was certainly a confusing concept; it was like energy and a power, it filled people with conviction and strength and yet it was a weakness. Love made you weak because it made you lose your purpose, left you ill and sad and made you make stupid mistakes; it was manipulative, forcing you to do things that weren't needed or helpful because you'd do anything for the one you love…

Elsa shook her head irritably; where had those thoughts come from? She had never known or felt love and she didn't want to, had Principal Randal ever been in love? She turned back to her desk and slumped into her chair. She glanced at the vase of flowers perched there; apparently it was a perk as Principal to get fresh flowers for the office, it overflowed with deep red and green flowers and leaves. She stared at the dark roses as she mused. Love hurt people, love caused pain; love was pain…

"Love is pain." She murmured to herself and reached across the desk and plucked a rose from the bouquet. "Like roses and blood." She continued, a small smile passing over her lips.

She trailed the soft petals over her fingers and smiled again. "Love hurts and scars. I want them to hurt; I want them to know that pain. Love is red and beautiful, so is blood…" She slid a fingertip down the stem and bit her lip when a bead of blood welled on the soft pad. After all, every rose has its thorns…

"Perfect."

……………………………………………………………..

Grace knocked quietly on the door to Principal Randal's office; Randal's secretary gave her a sympathetic nervous smile. There was no reply so Grace opened the door cautiously; after all she had only come to drop off some papers.

She stared into the room in disbelief. An open window fluttered its blinds sending eddying breezes across the floor and stirring the dark petals from the carpet. Red petals lay scattered as though they had been ripped from their stems, like pools of blood they covered the floor and desk as though something had died, as though love had somehow turned on itself and destroyed…She shivered and shook her head; she was being fanciful. She barely noticed the secretary behind her give a startled cry at the scene. She shivered, if she was being fanciful why did she suddenly feel so cold..?

………………………………………………………………

"A rose?" Mezagog rasped his disbelief; Elsa could clearly hear the doubt and impatience in his voice. Zeltrax gave a mocking laugh.

Elsa struggled to keep her temper. "Yes Master a rose. It's perfect for the Rangers; something so 'lovely' that hurts them so deeply."

Mezagog looked up from the rose in his claw and watched Elsa circumspectly "How interesting, it sounds to me that this idea has struck a chord within you." He said it carefully and Elsa couldn't work out whether he was mocking her or simply musing. Zeltrax on the other hand did not hide his disdain when he laughed again.

"A little sentimental for you isn't it?" Mezagog said to her, ignoring Zeltrax and tilting her chin up with a claw to look at him.

"I don't believe in sentiment my Lord." Elsa replied with a sneer, trying to meet his searching gaze. "I can think of several interesting things to do with the thorns; we need pain Sire and this creature can give it to us."

Mezagog seemed to consider it for a moment. "Very well." He said at last and passed the rose back to Elsa who smiled triumphantly.

"But my Lord-" Zeltrax protested.

"Silence." Mezagog's tone was final. "I have yet to see you come up with a plan Zeltrax." He watched Elsa slide the rose into a jar and activate the randomizer. "Perhaps a little sentiment is what we need. Blood and roses, love and pain…"

**A/N Wahoo! What's that coming over the hill; is it a monster, is it a monster? Actually I didn't listen to that song when I was writing this. Weirdly enough every song I listened to was about love hurting; it was quite freaky because I didn't engineer it, they were just all at the end of the CD. **_**There were the Rolling Stones – Streets of Love/ Sinead O'Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U/ Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Power of Love/ Nilsson – Without you.**_** And then even weirder…**_**Poison – Every Rose has its thorn/ Nazareth – Love Hurts **_**Am I the only one who thinks that is a bit of a freaky coincidence? Either way I like this chapter better, I hope you do! xxx**


	27. Our Girl

**You're quite right Chylea, my apologies but let's just say my nerves are going a bit spastic and I think you all needed advance warning! I'm afraid you'll be disappointed in this chapter too, it's like a big run up…**

**Chapter 27 – Our Girl**

**The team is about to discover that Love hurts and so does healing…**

Kira sighed as she watched Dr.O train in the back yard, he was pushing himself as hard as ever now that Jason had left despite the fact that his friend had pointed out that he wasn't invincible. The day was hot and she was sure that Dr.O shouldn't be doing so much training in this kind of heat; she herself felt hot sick and her head pounded mercilessly. Conner and Ethan sat opposite her watching as their teacher ran himself into the ground; they had to admit that he made an impressive sight, he was faster and stronger than any of them despite the fact that Conner's power was speed and Ethan's was a weird kind of strengthening shield.

Their teacher and mentor moved with practiced ease and precision, his face a mask of concentration and his moves far more advanced than theirs. Admittedly he had told them he had been doing karate among other fighting techniques, since he was child so Kira was pretty sure she and the others were doing well considering they had only been doing it a few months; maybe in time they would match him. That was if they wanted to continue when it was all over; she often wondered what would she do when her time and her job wasn't protecting others. Would she want to keep fighting, would she always be a Power Ranger even without the costume?

"Dr.O seriously needs a girl." Ethan said quite suddenly from around his glass of lemonade.

Conner for once didn't agree and gave his friend a warning nudge. "Dude." He said reproachfully. Kira wondered what it was Jason had said when he had taken Conner aside before he had left.

"Maybe he's right though." Kira replied thoughtfully. "I mean, if Dr.O didn't keep messing it up with Grace than he would have someone perhaps we should do some tweaking!" She grinned at them. The reaction wasn't as popular as she thought; perhaps it was the heat but no one really bothered to answer; Ethan didn't seem so sure anymore, Conner frowned and Trent rolled his eyes.

Kira shrugged and rubbed her head, she didn't really fancy interfering either but sometimes it was needed and she got the feeling that Grace was part of Dr.O's problem; solve that and they would be half way to solving the problem.

"Come on guys," A voice broke through her thoughts. "I know it's hot but we never know when an attack could come; sun or rain." Tommy smiled at them apologetically. Kira understood what he meant but sometimes she just wanted to be a normal teenager at home watching Saturday TV.

"Drink plenty, I have a load of ice in the fridge and we'll have plenty of breaks. We'll make it a short one today." He continued as he shielded his eyes and looked up at the cloudless sky. "The key is to hydrate and if any of you feel sick go and sit in the shade with some water okay?"

The four teenagers grumbled their response and took up their positions reluctantly; it was pair work first which they rotated but this time Kira was paired with Trent. He smiled encouragingly at her as she pulled back her hair into a pony tail, for some reason that smile felt like condescension and Kira felt a prickle of annoyance. As they went through the motions, their usual routines and movements Kira felt the annoyance grow; he was holding back on her as though he was afraid of hurting her.

"Come on Trent," She snapped. "I'm not made of glass; you're supposed to be testing me not boring me." She pressed her attack, adding more force to her blows and kicks.

Trent frowned at her worriedly. "Kira, we're supposed to be taking it easy; it's hot and I didn't want to tire you."

Kira wanted to hit him, honestly was Mezagog going to be so considerate? They had to be practical about this so she continued to press her attack, forcing Trent to work harder and meet her blows. The sweat was soon slicking her skin and her breath came heavy like his; she envied that the boys could take their tops off but she kept going even when Trent started to lighten his blows, concern on his face.

"Are you okay Kira?"

She stopped and glared at him. "What the hell is going on with you today?" She asked, perplexed. "We're training Trent not dancing, we have to work hard!"

"It's hot Kira-"

"SO? We're all hot!" Kira replied in annoyance. "Why aren't you asking Conner and Ethan if they're okay?" Trent looked embarrassed and Kira thought she knew the answer…

"Guys?" A voice interrupted them. "Are you okay?" Tommy frowned at them worriedly and Ethan and Conner stood behind him looking slightly freaked out. Great, that was all she needed; two egotistical males who would later give her relationship advice and an emotionally insecure grown man.

"I'm fine Dr.O," Kira said, swiping her brow with an arm. "Trent was just holding back on me." Tommy looked over at Trent who looked both exasperated and apologetic, Tommy was torn between understanding what Trent was trying to accomplish; after all it was hot, and the desire to press the importance of a challenging work out that would test their limits and hone their skills. "Let's do some group work," he said pretending to ignore the issue and leaving his students wondering what he thought. "Then I think we'll call it a day, it's too hot." '_And you're all too irritable.' _He added silently; Conner and Ethan had been doing some sloppy moves and Conner had started to get annoyed with Ethan and now Kira and Trent were having a spat. They needed to train no matter what and for every possibility but if their heads weren't in it there was no point, they'd only end up inuring themselves or each other. From the way Kira was eying Trent he guessed it would be the latter.

Group work was another basics exercise; pairs taught them one to one basics which came in handy with tyrannodrones and group work taught them how to work as a team as though against a monster. They had to look for each other's weaknesses as though they were fighting one of Mezagog's creations and at the same time it taught the Ranger in the middle how to work on their weaknesses and deal with a multiple attack.

Tommy walked around the group correcting footwork, moves and combinations. Conner was in the middle first and did well enough until he seemed to lose his concentration and kept leaving his side open; Ethan and the others often darted in and 'killed him.'

"Okay Kira, you next." Tommy frowned as Kira positioned herself; something was wrong today he could tell, he just hoped it was the heat getting to her; he wanted to tell her to stop but something told him that she wouldn't take it so well.

"Come on Kira, faster!" Tommy yelled over the sound of thuds, breathing and grunts that came from the circle. Occasional comments escaped the teens and Tommy either shushed them or ignored them; he didn't mind if they gave each other advice or criticism however, that was part of working as a team.

"Kira you're losing the pace!" Ethan called; all he got was a growl in reply.

"Watch your footwork!" Conner laughed at her.

"Shove your foot up your ass Conner." She growled.

Conner laughed. Tommy frowned, but it wasn't unusual for them to taunt each other for fun and it usually ended in them all laughing but today there seemed to be a little hostility…maybe he was just imagining it.

"You'd never be able to get your foot anywhere near my ass!" Conner sneered.

Nope he wasn't imagining it…

"I think she's getting tired!" Ethan joked as Kira wiped the sweat from her head and eyed them cautiously.

"Trent," She snapped. "Stop pissing around and actually test me."

"Kira come on, this is hard enough as it is,"

"You don't see them pansying around do you?" She gestured in irritation at Conner and Ethan. She stumbled as Ethan swiped at her legs and her breath came heavier.

"Footwork!" Conner called out again with a grin

"Yep, the poor girl's getting tired!" Ethan said with a grin. "Are you sure you don't want to rest and leave the hard stuff to us men, you can't really handle this!"

Tommy opened his mouth; this was going to go too far…

Kira straightened, snapping upright instantly. "For Christ's sake!" She yelled and there was instant silence in the yard. "I'm sick and tired of this. Ethan I'm female not a fucking flower, I'm so sick of your sexist comments, both of you!" Conner and Ethan stared at her in shock. "I could kick your ass any day of the week so instead you inflate your egos in an attempt to make up for the fact that you're as dumb as fish!" She rounded on Trent. "For God's sake Trent just because I'm a girl doesn't mean you have to act as though I'm going to break, I'm tired of your patronizing crap just hit me 'cause hell I couldn't care less if I hit you!" Her breath was coming in hard sobs now as she fought back the tears and her head throbbed.

"Kira…" Tommy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder like a concerned parent, and that was how she had always thought of him; like he was their second father, and it was the last straw.

"It's hard enough being the only girl in the team," She choked on the tears. "Without being reminded every five minutes like I'm inadequate, like you want another guy because I'm not good enough!" She pulled away from Tommy who looked as though he was going to hug her, and ran from the yard, her teacher's house and Trent's voice calling her back.

"It's okay guys." Tommy said quickly at the sight of their shocked and paling faces. "It's been a long day, you're not sexist it's just that-" he cut himself off, there wasn't time to explain, instead he ran after her.

He rounded the side of the house and came to a full stop at the sight of Grace. She was stood in the middle of his drive with her arms wrapped around a sobbing Kira; she looked up at him but he couldn't work out the expression on her face. She turned away and with one arm still wrapped around Kira began to walk away. Tommy could only pray for the best.

………………………………………………….

Grace had to admit that it was typical; she went to see Tommy and sort out the awkwardness between them but as usual someone seemed to be conspiring against her. It had been a shock to see a sobbing Kira running out of the house; she could guess what they all did at Tommy's house but the sight of Kira had been alarming, Kira seemed like someone who would only cry in the worst possible situation.

Kira was still struggling with her sobs when Grace bundled her into the car and began to drive towards the park. Grace didn't know why but it felt like the right place to go; it was comforting and shady in the deep heat, it always made her feel better about everything and she and Tommy had gone there once…

No, now wasn't the time for that Kira needed some attention.

She parked up her car and steered Kira to an empty patch of trees; everyone had similar ideas and there were people playing and relaxing, Grace thought shade and some peace and quiet would be good for Kira. Having sat the girl down Grace went to one of the many vendors that were there for the summer; she bought two ice slushies and gave one to Kira who managed to sniff her thanks.

Grace had discovered that in such situations you had to wait for them to calm down and collect themselves before asking what was going on or better yet they would come out with it on their own.

"I'm sorry." Kira mumbled eventually.

"You wanna' talk about it?" Grace asked gently.

"It's stupid," Kira replied with a blush. "I feel so terrible now; I just had this outburst at the others."

"What was it about?"

"It was really dumb…" Kira glanced up at Grace but when the older woman just looked mildly interested she sighed and continued. "It really is stupid; I was just hot and irritated and they said some stuff and I blew it all out of proportion."

Grace frowned slightly. "What kind of stuff?"

"It was nothing really," Kira wasn't sure how to explain because it was a team thing; she couldn't talk about being a Power Ranger. "I guess it's just hard sometimes being the only girl in my group of friends. I know I should find other girls to hang around with but I don't get along with them like I do with the guys and they don't seem to hang around with girls or have girlfriends either."

Grace nodded, she could understand Kira's difficulty; she couldn't hang around with her friend's girlfriends because they didn't exist and other girls either had nothing in common with her or were jealous of her because of Conner and were therefore inclined to dislike the yellow clad girl. Then of course it would be hard being the only girl in a team of super heroes.

"It's never gotten to me before," Kira said with a sigh. "I just had a headache and I was hot." She paused and looked over at Grace. "Did you ever wish you were different?"

Grace looked perplexed. "All the time Kira, everyone does."

"No," Kira shook her head. "Not in terms of looks and stuff, I mean in the way people see you, like you could be better because they want you to be."

"What did they say to you?" Grace asked, hoping that the answer would help her understand.

Kira blushed again. "I called them sexist; they were saying stuff about me not being as good as a guy, you know being a weak girl and all. It just made me wonder if they wished they had another guy in the group, it made me wish I could change who I was, not necessarily into a guy," She said hurriedly. "But just so they would want me and think I was just as good."

Grace gave her a one armed hug with a grin. "Oh Kira you are silly! Those boys wouldn't want you to be any different. Besides you keep them all in line, where would they be without you?"

Kira gave a laugh at that. "I told you it was stupid, I guess I was tired and it just made me kinda' paranoid you know?"

"It's still a real worry Kira but I think you're right, the heat and that wonderful headache of yours probably made it seem much worse."

Kira glanced at the empty cup in her hand. "Yeah but I feel much better now, thanks."

For some reason Grace gave her own blush and quickly said, "The wonders of icy drinks huh?" Kira glanced at her curiously but before she could say anything Grace smiled at someone behind her. Kira turned and came face to face with Trent.

Grace looked down at her watch. "Sorry guys, I have to go but I guess I'll see you on Monday!" She gave a slight smile to Kira and went quickly on her way.

Trent cleared his throat nervously and Kira had trouble meeting his eyes; heaven only knew what he thought of her.

"Um Kira…" he began.

"I'm sorry." Kira interrupted. She scrambled up so that she was facing him. "I was having a bad day-which is no excuse I know, but I…that is, I didn't mean what I said-"

"Kira its okay," Trent interrupted her babble with a smile. "Everyone's entitled to anger at some point; I guess it was just your turn this time."

"I don't think you guys are sexist." Kira replied, desperate to make amends.

"We know that," Trent put out a comforting hand to her shoulder. "It's hot Kira and if it hadn't have been you it would have been one of us; we knew you didn't mean it."

Kira bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Is Dr.O okay?"

Trent looked confused. "Of course he is, he was just worried about you, we all were."

"I didn't mean to make him feel bad, Jason said we should take care of him and I'm already making it worse; he's only been gone three days."

Trent pulled her into a hug. "Don't be dumb Kira; it's not like you! Dr.O's fine he knows it was the heat as well, although he did say we should be more sympathetic to your position."

Kira blushed again. "I really don't mind I don't know why what Ethan said got me so riled besides it never affected. It was just that I felt like you were being easy on me because I was a girl, I mean I know we all worry about making mistakes that could someone else hurt but it was like you all thought I was a danger because I was some sort of "weak girly girl" and it got me worrying."

Trent gripped both of her shoulders and held her away from him, forcing her to look right at him. "Kira you're one of the strongest people I know; you're brave and funny and you keep us all in line because you know there'd be chaos without you!"

Kira giggled and wiped a few tears from her eyes. Trent pulled her towards him and hugged her again. "I wasn't trying to put you down earlier," he said gently. "You were doing a Dr.O on me and working too hard. I wasn't going easy on you because you're a girl," he took a deep breath. "I was doing it because I didn't want you to get hurt; I did it because I care about you."

The silence seemed to last an eternity to Trent as he waited with bated breath to hear her reply. She suddenly looked up at him; there was a smile on her face but surprise in her eyes.

"You do?" She sounded surprised too.

Trent shifted uncomfortably. "Um, yeah…Sorry." He didn't know why he said it; it just popped into his head. Kira however gave a gleeful laugh, wrapped her arms around his neck and proceeded to kiss him soundly. Somewhere in Trent's brain someone released the breath he'd been holding in relief, and in another part of his brain someone whooped with joy and punched the air. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss, reveling in the feel of her body pressed against his.

"AWW! SWEET SWEET LOVE!" A loud cackle brought them back to earth, that was when the screaming started…

_**A/N Okay so excitement! They're finally together; it's all starting to come together now! That's Kira's problem solved and Trent's; she's not lonely and he finally plucked up his courage to tell her how he feels. This chapter wasn't actually supposed to be this long so now I'm going to go and continue into the next one…see ya! As always read and review my lovelies! xxx**_


	28. Children

**A new monster is going to cause havoc for the team just as Trent and Kira realize their feelings…love and pain are still so close. And Tommy is a father…**

**Chapter 28 – Children**

**  
**

Tommy sighed as he sat back in the chair on his patio, it had been a tough day so far and despite the fact the afternoon was wearing on the heat was still infusing the air. They hadn't got much training done but it was only to be expected in this heat and after the whole thing with Kira the others hadn't really felt like continuing.

Trent had gone after her a little while later and Tommy could only hope that if Grace hadn't managed to sort it out than Trent would, he and Kira were close and he hoped for their sake this didn't ruin anything else they might have. Tommy wasn't blind; he knew they both liked each other which was what made their argument worrying; Kira must have been really upset to yell at Trent. Actually that she yelled at all was worrying; she never really came across as an angry girl and she was never unkind, but heat always made people waspish.

Conner an Ethan had initially worried about what they had said but Tommy had managed to persuade them that the heat had blown their teasing way out of proportion and Kira didn't meant it. He had of course pointed out that it would be difficult for Kira to be the only girl sometimes; he remembered only too well how Trini, Kim and Kat as well as the others had liked their 'girly time' together and it seemed like they were always meeting to go shopping and stuff. Tommy had worried about it before and although the team had Hayley she wasn't really a brilliant substitute in that area; firstly she had a business to run and then stuff for the Rangers, on top of that she and Kira weren't exactly close age wise. It hadn't seemed to really bother Kira before today which was how he knew that the heat was a large factor but such things wouldn't have been said unless there was even a tiny bit of truth behind them.

A familiar beep made him sigh and he lifted his wrist to his mouth. "Go ahead."

"Dr.O," Trent's voice tinny voice sounded worried. "You'd better get to the park, there's something you should see. In fact I think you should get the others too, this doesn't look so good."

"I'll be right there." Tommy shot out of his chair, his muscles complaining that he'd only just sat down and should stay there for a while. It seemed the day wasn't really going to get much better; Trent hadn't exactly sounded optimistic about their odds.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

He skidded to a halt at the sight before him; Trent was helping Kira up and both he and the yellow ranger were covered in smudges of soot and there were rips in their clothes. Conner and Ethan on the other hand had obviously only just arrived and were staring at the monster before them.

There were a dozen tyrannodrones bobbing around and in the midst of them stood the latest of Mezagog's creations. It stood well over six feet with a blocky stature and was stained a deep crimson like drying blood, the thick legs were a dark green and lined with dark red curving thorns like the stems of a rose. The body seemed to be made of deep red ruffles like petals facing him edge on and upon each ridge was a row of thorns in varying sizes, the arms bristled with giant red thorns like a giant mace and the long thick fingers ended with thorns that curved like talons. The head seemed molded out of the body like a piece of clay; tall and thick as though stretched from the neck and was comprised of the same deep ruffles these too were edged with tiny thorns and in the middle was a large mouth. At least that was what Tommy thought it was; it was a dark red bowl filled to the brim with teeth that looked like they were uncurled thorns, the eyes seemed to be nonexistent unfortunately it appeared that he could still see.

"AH! MORE PEOPLE TO HURT!"

Tommy grabbed Trent by the arm. "Are you guys okay?"

"Sure Dr.O," Said Conner as he limped over; apparently he and Ethan had actually been there a while and were not unscathed. "We were just having a little fun." Tommy shook his head at Conner's warped humour.

"Is this normal?" Trent asked gingerly touching his red and puffy eye. Tommy winced inwardly at the sight of the white ranger's ragged appearance.

"I didn't think we could really get hurt." Ethan said wiping at the scratch on his arm.

Tommy's head was whirling in disbelief; nor had he. "I think it's best if you power up guys; being a Ranger doesn't make you invincible but this…" He trailed off and turned back to the suspiciously quiet monster.

"What, no words of wisdom to impart?" He asked scathingly.

The monster laughed. "SO YOU'RE THE GREAT DR.OLIVER? ARE YOU SAD BLACK RANGER?"

Beneath his helmet Tommy frowned. "Sad?"

"YEAH, BECAUSE I'D SURE LIKE TO MAKE YOU CRY!" With that the monster lunged for him letting out a deafening roar.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tommy remembered very little of the battle later on; he vaguely remembered that the drones were easy to get rid of but the rest was just flashes of thorns and pain. Despite its size it was an agile creature but it really did very little; it just stood there and slashed at them when they came near. He knew that it was over fairly quickly though.

He watched as Kira span past him through the air with a yell and Trent went running after her in alarm, Tommy turned back to see Ethan lying on the floor at the monster's feet and Conner dangling from one clawed hand as he attempted to help his blue friend.

"Let them go!" He yelled angrily and called up his Brachiostaff, charging towards them and seeing red.

"SURE," It said with a laugh. "I WAS GETTING BORED ANYWAY!"

All Tommy saw was Conner soaring through the air towards him yelling at the top of his lungs and then he was knocked backwards by the force with which the red ranger hit him. When he struggled into a sitting position, Conner draped over him, he watched the monster laughing.

"THAT WILL MAKE YOU THINK TWICE ABOUT PICKING FLOWERS LITTLE GIRL!" It crowed to Kira, and then it turned back to Tommy. "GUESS I'LL BE SEEING YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN LATER!" In a flash of green light it disappeared.

Tommy quickly turned back to the matter in hand; he powered down and he slid Conner off of his lap and gently pulled off the boy's helmet. "Conner? Conner can you hear me?" The boy groaned and opened his eyes.

"Did we win?" At the sight of Tommy's worried face he groaned again. "Let me guess, stupid question."

"You're always so full of those." Ethan limped over with a bitter smile and lowered himself gingerly to the ground by his friend. To his credit Conner managed a half hearted chuckle. Trent slowly made his way over supporting a limping Kira who looked ready to sleep for a century.

Tommy sighed and put his mouth to the communicator. "Hayley can you get to the command center and bring a medical kit with you. On second thoughts bring several."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tommy remembered vividly each of their wounds as though he had committed them to memory, unable to forget. He sat down carefully on the edge of his bed and closed his eyes.

Ethan's clothes had been splattered with blood, blood that came from the hundreds of tiny scratches up his arms; he had mentioned something about being twirled through the air and grabbing hold of the nearest thing…unfortunately it had been the thing's head. Trent was sporting an already impressive looking black eye and a several slashed items of clothing. Kira had a long scratch along her cheekbone and a twisted ankle, Conner was acting like he had concussion or was at least very dazed as well as having an enormous bruise on his shoulder again and another on his thigh.

He and Hayley had fixed them up as best they could. He opened his eyes again and began to unbutton his black shirt, he had sent them home with the best excuses they could think of and reassured them he was unhurt before turning in himself. Hayley had wanted to examine him but he had finally gotten rid of her without her plan coming into effect.

He sucked in a breath of pain as he carefully shrugged out the shirt, he looked down at himself. His chest and stomach were a mass of bruises where the creature had thrown Conner at him; that kid got heavier when he was hurtling through the air. He hissed as he tried to straighten, it was possible he had broken a few ribs as well and there was a cut across his shoulder and collarbone. There were tiny scratches everywhere but they were barely noticeable like paper cuts, they only stung occasionally; the bruising was definitely the most painful.

Too tired to undress he lay back on the bed, whenever he closed his eyes all he could see was the way they had been thrown around and the injuries that marked them. Life had begun to become normal again, where was Jason now? He was a leader again and this time he couldn't have his friend's help, he'd never experienced anything like this before; wounds for Power Rangers were almost non existent, the occasional scratch or bruise but blood and cuts, broken ribs? It wasn't normal.

He had to protect them; he was their leader, their teacher, their protector. What was he going to do? After all it had been right; they were all his responsibility as though he were their father, and they were still only children…

_**A/N Oh my that was scary; they can get hurt! **_

_**Part of this idea was inspired by my Gemini Muses; Nellie and Splatalie, they are part of the 'PR United' forum chat rooms and stuff. Apparently one of the topics of conversation is currently Power Ranger injuries; it had come to our attention that nowadays Power Rangers never get hurt. I don't mean blood guts and gore and hospitals after all this is a children's program and they're Power Rangers for goodness sake, but would it be too much to ask for a little authenticity? I mean when they get beaten to the ground could they at least STRUGGLE to get up? Or if they get slashed across the arm could they NOT hold their leg? **_

_**Anyways they're thinking of writing to the producers and asking for it to be put back in like it used to be, so is anyone interested in signing a petition or something or at least indicating support? Let me know or go on the aforementioned site and as always read and review because everyone knows that reviews are like chocolate! xxx **_


	29. Fighting is Educational?

**I dedicate this chapter to Chylea because it's freaky how often she guesses what happens next and I'm pretty sure she could write this story for me! **

**Well you can have food fights at school…and Conner edges that little bit closer as Grace uses her powers.**

**Chapter 29 – Fighting is educational?**

Grace settled herself comfortably on the bench smiling as she watched the students of Reefside High go wild at the promise of lunch time. She'd been feeling good since she had last seen Kira on the Saturday; even the usual Monday blues had been kept at bay. She hadn't even gotten a headache from healing Kira; it had taken her a while to put all the facts together but eventually she had come to the conclusion that her Ranger power was that of healing. It worried her slightly that she had tired so easily before, over reached herself with so little effort; after all she had only healed a few bruises and tiredness, it seemed her boundaries were small.

Grace pulled out her book and studied the cover; Karate in the advanced stages, it seemed that her skills had improved and she had to practice she needed some new moves. She had to build up stamina, speed and precision and maybe in time she could stretch her boundaries and improve her powers.

She opened the book and slipped between the pages immersing herself in her new interest, it was not long however before a shadow slipped over the table.

"Miss- um, Grace?" A surprised and curious voice interrupted her concentration. She looked up to find a smiling Kira and a disbelieving Trent; she couldn't help but notice that Kira's hand was slipped comfortably into Trent's.

"Trent!" She exclaimed, all else forgotten. "What on earth did you do to your eye?"

Her concern made him blush. "Oh, um…it's nothing really."

Grace made her way around to the other side of the bench and with a no nonsense attitude began to inspect the enormous black right eye. "Nothing? It looks terrible Trent how did you do this?" Trent shrugged uncomfortably and winced as she ran her fingertips over the swelling. Grace turned questioningly to Kira.

"Kira?" She tailed off at the sight of the young girl's long cut on her cheekbone. "What have you two been doing?" She said with a shake of her head, inspecting the slice. "Honestly, anyone would think you two had been fighting each other!"

"My money would be on Kira!" Said an approaching voice. Grace turned to see Ethan and Conner ambling towards them, she instantly noticed the way Conner held himself stiffly and that his bag was not on his usual shoulder.

"I dunno' Conner," Replied Ethan and reached across the table for her book, Grace caught a glimpse of dozens of cuts on his arm as his long sleeve rode up. "Looks like Miss Peyton is learning how to kick butt too!" Conner raised his eyebrows in speculation.

"Well you all look like you got caught in a war zone," Grace said defensively. "I thought it would be prudent to at least know a little in a place like this, and it looks as though you could all do with some help." The sound of jeering yells brought her attention to proceedings behind the teenagers. "Excuse me a moment." She said and ran over to break up the fight.

"Yeah," Snorted Conner lowering himself onto the bench. "Help would be good." They watched as Grace grabbed the two boys fighting and began to lecture them.

"Now imagine if she was on the team," he continued. "We'd have no problem."

Ethan looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Well look at her," Conner said, gesturing to the history teacher; she wasn't shouting just calmly talking to them both. "She's fair but she doesn't put up with crap; firm but fair as my mom always says. Doesn't that seem like a Ranger themed characteristic?"

"I guess," Trent replied with a smile. "I would say firm but fair describes her accurately."

"She doesn't even have to yell at them," Conner continued. "Look, she even manages to make them feel ashamed without being really angry." Indeed the two boys looked rather embarrassed and miserable at her disappointed expression. "That's the kind of thing Dr.O does, it's worse than punishment it just makes you feel like crap because you value their opinion."

"Wow Conner," Ethan looked impressed. "That was deep and sounded like it came from experience."

Conner cleared his throat and looked slightly flushed with embarrassment. "You guys have to admit though, Grace and Dr.O, there is something about them that makes you want their approval and…I dunno' lately there's been something about Grace that I just can't put my finger on."

Kira frowned at Conner but he was right; they'd never really thought about it before but from her friends' expressions they were now, it wasn't something noticeable until you really looked for it and you couldn't put you finger on it; it was elusive. Grace looked like she was letting them go when Principal Randal suddenly appeared; the young curly haired woman seemed to step in front of the two boys as though trying to protect them. She was shaking her head vehemently but Principal Randal didn't look impressed and shook her hand at Grace as though dismissing what she was saying; she then beckoned to the boys and Grace rolled her eyes.

"Oops," Said Kira with a wince. "Looks like Principal Randal isn't going to be as lenient and Grace is going to have be the defense."

"She likes looking out for people." Trent said. "She's good at it too."

Ethan nodded in agreement. "It's like she has this thing where she has to heal everyone, you know; make them better."

Conner's head snapped up from Grace's book. "What did you say?" There was urgency in his voice.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "I said –"

"HELLO!"

The Rangers turned to see the monster from the previous day stood waving a clawed hand at them, Reefside students began screaming and panicking, running in all directions in an attempt to get away. Through the panicked mass Dr.O could be seen, pushing his way past and yelling for everyone to get as far away as possible.

"Hey guys." He said, reaching their sides.

"Here we go again." Groaned Ethan.

"DINO THUNDER POWER UP!"

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Grace ran through the empty corridors checking the classrooms for students and trying not to listen to the sound of small explosions and yelling that came from outside. She herded the four students she had found down the maths corridor and as far away as possible from the fighting outside.

"Miss Peyton!" A cry from one of the classroom's grabbed at her attention.

"Run for the exit!" She called to the four in front of her and ducked into the classroom, the sounds of fighting growing louder. Two girls were huddled at the back of the class underneath one of the tables, Grace ran to them keeping low as one side of the room was comprised of large glass windows.

"Come on girls," Grace began to usher them towards the door she had just come through. There was a sudden roar and the sound of something shattering, glass flew across the room forcing the three of them to duck. Crouched by the door Grace raised her head slightly to see what had happened; a red clad figure lay in a tangle amongst the broken desks and glass. With a groan the Power Ranger pulled himself up, shaking his head to clear it and with a growl hopped back through the window.

"Go, go!" Grace pushed the girls out into the corridor and ran with them towards the door at the end. Something slammed into her with a force that knocked the breath from her body; a hand wrapped itself around her throat. "Go!" She shouted at the girls who had hesitated with cries of alarm; they didn't need telling twice.

"How sweet, rescuing the student body." Elsa's voice was recognizable despite the fact everything was going dark and she couldn't breathe. "If it weren't for you they'd be student bodies!" Elsa cackled at her own joke.

An explosion rocked the building and threw them both sideways, Grace felt the crushing grip on her throat suddenly release as she was sent flying; she ended up in the middle of the corridor and on the floor. She struggled to pull herself up coughing, she looked around at the devastation; there was rubble everywhere and small fires, giant holes gaped in the walls and ceiling and dust filled the air. Behind her down the far end of the corridor she could see tyrannodrones and the occasional and distant flash of yellow that suggested Kira had her work cut out for her. Grace brought a hand to her face; her right eye was aching like an old bruise and she was sure she had a half healed cut on her cheek; she didn't remember feeling them happen…

Elsa gave a groggy sounding groan bringing Grace back to the situation at hand, she pulled herself up before Elsa could take advantage of the situation, but unfortunately the woman gave a screech of rage and grabbed at her before she was quite steady; her head and ears were ringing. The witch like woman grabbed her hair and tried to swing her around into the wall, Grace gave a yell of pain as her shoulder crashed into the wall but rolled to one side forcing Elsa to do the same and slammed her elbow into the woman's stomach.

Leaning against the wall and trying to catch her breath Grace gave the off balance woman a kick for good measure which sent her reeling. Grace turned and ran down the corridor but she was knocked to the floor again as the part of the wall she had just passed exploded into the corridor and the black ranger flew in and hit the opposite wall. More dust and rubble rained down from the ceiling forcing her to cover her head with her arms, and a solitary sprinkler in the ceiling began to spray water onto the floor.

"Tommy?" She pulled herself over to the prone figure and gave him a shake. "Come on Tommy, please get up!"

"BLACK RANGER? COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!" A loud and menacing voice could be heard over the sound of explosions that were still going on.

In a panic and with shaking hands Grace pulled off one of Tommy's gloves and gripped his hand in hers, twining their fingers and closing her eyes. She felt this strange awareness of his body, everything else just disappeared and became quiet and echoey as though it were happening a long way off. She took a deep breath and concentrated on the awareness, letting it slip over her as though she were running her hands across him; she let it sink in when she came across things that didn't feel right, bruised skin and bones. She saw what had happened as though in a flashback or memory; those bruises had been caused by the red ranger being thrown into him and so had the broken ribs, that cut had been a piece of glass, that bruise had been the wall. She came across a series of small cuts on his shoulder and let her awareness sink into them, healing them. She jerked back to reality with a hiss as she felt pain shoot across her shoulder and dropped his hand with flash of thorns echoing in her head.

"AH HA!" Grace turned to see a large red and thorny monster peering through the hole in the wall; now she knew what the thorns belonged to. "THERE YOU ARE!" Tommy stirred feebly beside her with a small groan.

"What the-" Grace began in alarm.

"I'M THE ACANTHID!" It yelled and grabbed Tommy by the ankle and began to drag him back through the wall. Somewhere in the back of her head Grace made the connection; Acanthid: Latin for thorn.

"I haven't finished with you!" Came a loud screech from back down the corridor.

"Shit." Grace turned to look at Elsa but another explosion shook her to the floor; it was, she decided, like being on a bouncy castle when you didn't have any balance and people kept jumping on you. She yanked herself back up again and threw herself into the nearest classroom as the ceiling panels that covered the pipes gave a groan and fell in, she vaguely registered Elsa's outraged scream. She sat with her back against the wall and pushed her hair out of her face, her heart was pounding in her chest and her breath came hard and fast. It was definitely time for a change.

"Dino thunder power up!"

_**A/N I ended up researching the name; I was going to use a name of a red rose but nothing sounded threatening so I went for the Latin names but again they weren't much good so I just went for something Latin; see a process of elimination! So what do you think? Couldn't think of anything in keeping with Power Ranger 'cheesiness' of monster names! Anyways tell me what you think because the fighting thing is definitely not my strong point but unfortunately my story means I can't really avoid it. REVIEWS, WHAHOO! Xxx**_


	30. Don't be a Stranger Ranger

**For one half of my Gemini Muses; Nellie, who obsessed over this title!**

**Grace is about to discover the flaw in helping people, no good deed goes unpunished…**

**Chapter 30 – Don't be a Stranger Ranger**

Kira grabbed Ethan's arm as he stumbled over a pile of rubble from the wall and steadied him. She had no idea where Dr.O and Trent were, the last time she had seen them was outside when they had been fighting the Acanthid and Conner had been thrown through a window. Ethan swung her around suddenly and the tyrannodrone's fist slammed into the wall where her head hand been.

"Keep your head together Kira!" Ethan yelled at her.

"Sorry!" She yelled back over the sound of the explosions and sounds of breaking glass.

"Hey guys!" Conner's voice echoed down the corridor and they turned to see him struggling with several drones. "A little help over here!"

Kira and Ethan were running towards him when Trent appeared through a window, spreading glass across the floor and closely followed by more drones; Kira helped him up and the three of them ran towards Conner, chased by the drones from the window.

They had nearly reached their red friend when all of a sudden the green ranger hurtled from the nearest classroom and knocked the drones around Conner flying and then burst through the opposite wall followed by a screaming Elsa who was waving her sword.

Kira and the others froze in shock and the drones looked momentarily stunned before turning tail and fleeing. They ran over and peered around the door of the classroom into which the Power Ranger and Elsa had burst and watched in amazement as Elsa was knocked into the desks by a flying kick. Kira watched avidly as the green ranger got the upper hand time and time again with a series of intricate moves that enraged Elsa until she looked like she was ready to explode. One last kick seemed to be the final straw for her.

"We'll be seeing each other again Green Ranger!" She spat as she struggled up from the tangle of chairs. "This isn't over!" With a crack of green lightning she disappeared into the invisaportal.

"Oh good." Said the green ranger calmly. Kira noted that there was nothing distinguishing about the voice; it wasn't deep and it wasn't high but coupled with the build he definitely seemed male. The helmeted head turned to look at them.

Grace had to admit that she felt great, maybe it was the suit and the fact that she was now back in control of the fight but she definitely felt brilliant, exhilarated. The other rangers were stood in the doorway watching her but she could only guess what their expressions were from beneath their helmets. Everything was starting to look a bit out of control and she was pretty sure that half of the school had been demolished, the silence in the room was crushing but what was she supposed to do?

The blast happened without warning; she was vaguely aware of the roaring sound and a flood of light, and falling; she remembered being knocked to the ground and then everything went black.

It must have been only for a few minutes because when she opened her eyes the dust had yet to settle. Grace groaned and heaved the debris off of her back, she struggled to pull herself up; she felt disorientated her head was reeling and her breathing was loud in her ears. She staggered and had to catch herself with one of the desks which was quite miraculously still standing, the flood of light had been daylight she could see that now; the entire side of the room had been ripped out to reveal the lunch area beyond with the grass and benches. The other Rangers had evidently been blown backwards by the force and Grace could see them by the door and in the corridor trying to help each other up as they came round.

Grace stumbled outside into the sunshine and dropped to her knees, unable to maintain her balance, she was closely followed by the others who staggered outside and tried to regain their equilibrium.

"Oh my God, guys are you okay?" A worried black ranger pulled up Ethan who was sat on the floor, having appeared from around the corner.

Close behind was the monster. "OH DEAR ME!" It exclaimed with glee. "ARE YOUR CHILDREN HURT?"

"We're just fine." Conner replied grimly and pulled himself up straight, followed by Trent, Kira and Ethan.

"AND WHO IS THIS?" The Acanthid said with interest in its voice, turning to look at Grace who had managed to stand up and had her balance back. "ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN? HE LOOKS A LITTLE SICK DON'T YOU THINK?"

"If you think I look sick," Grace replied, crossing her arms. "You should really look in the mirror some time."

Ethan gave a snort of laughter and Kira gave a nod of agreement. "THIS ONE'S FEISTY!" The monster laughed.

Tommy shrugged. "What can I say? I guess it's the youth of today, you know teenagers." He walked stiffly over to Grace and stood next her. "Personally I quite like their attitude."

"SHAME THEY WON'T BE AROUND FOR MUCH LONGER!" Cackled the Acanthid and charged at them.

…………………………………………………………

It was the first time Grace had fought as a group and it was an interesting technique, it was difficult at first to keep track of them all and ensure that she didn't accidentally injure them but she soon found the pace and the patterns. They ducked and wove together as fast as possible; trying to confuse the large monster but it seemed to be where ever they were; blocking every move and doling out blows.

Grace knew enough about the Power Rangers to know that they shouldn't be bleeding, that they shouldn't be finding it so difficult to get back up again when they fell. They were tired she knew that, how could they not be the monster had appeared over an hour ago, but this was worse. None of them could get a grip for fear of the thorns and all the monster had to do was swing its bristling arms and they were injured.

"Terra-grips!" Yelled Kira suddenly, she was closely followed.

"Tyrannostaff!"

"Tricera-shield!"

"Brachiostaff!"

Grace hesitated slightly; unsure what she was supposed to summon, but suddenly it came to her in just the same way the power had. "Brontobow! The power of the Brontosaurus!" A large green bow appeared in her outstretched hand, an arrow already strung; with a yell of triumph she released it and the others charged forwards.

The fighting was intense, each of them looking for a way in and a way to defeat the giant thorned rose hybrid. Ethan was sent sprawling into Conner and Kira leaving the three of them dazed and Ethan with another cut to add to his collection. Tommy slashed and hacked at the Acanthid finally locking his staff with the giant thorns on its arm, it drew him close.

"A BRACHIOSAURUS IS A HERBIVORE ISN'T IT?"

"What's this," Tommy panted with exertion. "You want me to teach you, hasn't Elsa given you an education already?"

"A HERBIVORE," Sneered the Acanthid. "NO MEAT, YOU HAVEN'T THE POWER OF THE KILLER!"

Grace used her bow like a stave and locked her weapon with the Acanthid's other arm and planted herself firmly next to Tommy. "AH, ANOTHER WEAK VEGETARIAN!" It cackled to itself.

"You're forgetting something," Grace gritted out. "We eat plants, and it looks to me like you've got to be the biggest flower I've ever seen!"

The Acanthid gave a roar of outrage and with a great heave freed itself from the lock; it slashed Tommy across the chest producing a yell of pain and knocked Grace over before disappearing into an invisaportal. Grace rolled over and pulled herself up to see Tommy already crouched with the other Rangers on the grass and trying to stop the flow of blood that was spreading across Ethan's arm.

Tommy pressed his hand to the cut and at the same time tried to inspect the others all of whom were in some way injured and couldn't hide their exhaustion. Beneath him Ethan gave a gasp of pain.

"Hang on Ethan," Tommy murmured, rapidly trying to work out what to do. "It'll be okay, I just have to stop the bleeding." He was suddenly aware of the green ranger crouched beside him, before he could say anything however his hand was shoved out of the way.

"Let me." The voice was brisk and the gloved hands were steady as he ripped away part of the blue suit to inspect the wound. With a hiss of sympathy he pulled off Ethan's glove and gripped his hand, Ethan hung on grimly as he tensed and let out a small cry of pain; the green ranger also seemed to tense and then right before their eyes the cut disappeared and they guessed that all other wounds had too.

Tommy watched in amazement as the green ranger grabbed Conner and Kira's hands and pulled off their gloves and proceeded to heal them; he turned next to Trent who waved him off.

"It's nothing," He said quickly. "Just a few bruises." He gave a gasp of surprise as the mysterious ranger ignored him and clapped a gloved hand over the split in his suit on his leg where a thin bloody line could be seen. Trent's legs seemed to give way suddenly and Tommy had to catch him and lower him to the floor.

"They'll be okay." Tommy frowned as the ranger stood unsteadily, and rose as well.

"The question is will you be?" He replied seriously.

"I might ask you the same thing." Was the simple reply he got and the green clad stranger pointed at the large slash on his chest.

"It's only small," Tommy brushed it off. "They were worse; I have to look after them first besides it will heal quickly enough on its own."

"Like broken ribs?" The question took Tommy by surprise and before he could ask how it was possible he had known, a hand was pressed against his chest and Tommy struggled for breath.

"Another one," The green ranger withdrew a hand. "You should take more care of those; they protect your lungs you know." Tommy wondered vaguely if he was supposed to laugh.

"Who are you?" He asked instead, there were a few moments silence.

"Help." He said and turned away, disappearing with a flash.

Tommy stood for a few moments staring at the spot which had been so recently occupied. He could still feel the imprint of his hand; he had helped them all, he wasn't evil but Tommy still didn't feel any better, somewhere in the back of his head he heard the echo of an evil laugh.

"Who could he be?" Kira asked from where she was crouching by Ethan. Tommy jerked back to the present.

"Why won't he reveal himself?" Conner asked. "We've already established that they must know who we are, they could extend the same courtesy."

Trent ran a hand across his leg. "At least we know he's on our side." He said with a half hearted shrug. "Even if he doesn't trust us."

"Dr.O," Ethan sounded confused. "Why did the Acanthid leave, it was winning; we were all hurt and weakened but it left and let the green ranger heal us, why?"

Tommy turned back to them with a sigh. "I don't know guys, I just don't know."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Grace stumbled through the half demolished corridor, it looked as though two thirds of the school had been destroyed or at least partially damaged. She prayed the bathroom in this part of the building was still in tact, she needed somewhere to hide for the moment and this corridor wasn't that bad compared to some of them.

She shoved open the door and stumbled in catching herself on the sinks to stop her falling; she threw up into the nearest one and then unable to support herself, she slid to the floor and propped herself against one of the toilet cubicles. A couple of ceiling tiles had fallen during the fight and there was a film of dust and dirt on the floor, but the bathroom had escaped relatively unscathed. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, everything hurt like hell; she rolled her trouser leg up and stared down at the cut on her leg, her head whirled and she stared uncomprehending.

Very slowly she stood again, using the cubicle for support until she stood in front of the mirrors above the sinks. She paused for a moment and stared at herself; her right eye had turned black and there was a cut on her left cheekbone, she had seen them before, she had also seen the cut on her arm that bled copiously and the tiny half healed scratches that littered her from wrist to elbow. Slowly she unbuttoned her shirt to reveal a large bruise on her shoulder and several small cuts on the other side, worst of all a bloody gash that ran diagonally across her chest half hidden by her bra. She thanked God that the broken rib had been caused by a falling piece of ceiling, and then the tears began to roll down her face and she sank to the floor…

_**A/N Poor Grace she just wants to help and she gets punished for it! But hey it's all starting to come together now although I don't know how many more chapters there will be. Anyway despite my shoddy fighting scenes I hope you liked it so as always read and review; it's always greatly appreciated! xxx **_


	31. What's next?

**I am distraught. I have discovered that one of my favourite authors has just died :( Robert Jordan was a genius especially his series entitled 'The Wheel of Time' which rivalled the world JR Tolkien which is pretty damn hard! I am upset because I've been waiting for the final twelfth book only discover that he has died without completing it...my world is currently collapsing around me! I am told that all is not lost as he has left notes for the rest of the book in case of his death which was caused by amyloidosis; when he was diagnosed they gave him four years apparently so I guess the extra 30 he had weren't bad going! Everyone, go out and read his stuff it really is brilliant and pray with me that his wife and publisher finish the last book for him. x**

**The rangers are drawn together by their insecurity but Tommy becomes a recluse and takes his responsibility very seriously. The problem is what can he do when he doesn't know what will happen next? **

**Chapter 31 – What's next?**

"_Please Bro I'm begging you!"_

_It was a cave or something wreathed in darkness and mist that swirled about his feet, the dark dimension in one of many forms. Was this home, was this where he belonged? He had spent so long here, had called it a home of a sorts where his mistress had visited and told him all of her plans, where Zedd had plotted to make him his heir._

"_It doesn't have to be like this!" The voice echoed from behind him._

_Somehow Tommy knew who it was before he turned around; it wasn't just the nickname that gave it away; he would have known that voice in the blackest night, would have known it anywhere._

"_Yes it does." He heard himself say. "It's always been like this." He turned around._

"_It can change, people can change Tommy." Jason looked up desperately at him._

_Tommy's head was pounding, he placed a hand to it. "Why does it always hurt?" His voice sounded small and broken._

"_I'm sorry Bro," Jason's eyes glittered with tears. "I can't stop that but together we can change what happens next."_

"_It has to be like this." Tommy's voice choked out. "I'm like this." He dropped to his knees in despair._

"_No," Jason knelt in front of him. "She made you like this, but remember how you used to be Tommy, remember how it was. It can be like that again I promise, you're not a bad person."_

_Tommy felt the anger well up inside of him. What did he know? His mistress had chosen him because he was stronger, because he was better and because of what was inside of him. He liked it like this, it was honest; he wasn't trying to be one of those saintly rangers, they wanted to change him because they were afraid and because they were jealous. Jason wanted to steal his glory, be the best and undefeated, well he'd show them…_

_Tommy didn't remember the knife being in his hand and didn't feel the instant in which it moved. It was Jason's eyes that had given it away; his breath had caught and the grip on Tommy's shoulder had tightened slightly but the eyes had flickered, perhaps momentarily surprised or flickering from the pain. _

_A small smile curved Jason's lips and it was echoed in his dark eyes, they shone with tears._

_Tommy felt bewildered. "Jase? Oh my God, Jase! I…I-" He gently lowered his brother to the floor as Jason gave a small convulsion. Tommy could feel the panic rising in his chest and the tears starting to fall down his face. "Oh God I'm sorry, I didn't mean… please…"_

"_It's okay," Jason's voice sounded tense with pain. "I know."_

"_Please don't leave me!" Tommy begged._

"_I have faith in you Tommy," Jason forced the words out. "We all have faith in you." His body seemed to go limp, his eyes fluttering closed._

"_No!" Tommy sobbed. "No please don't go. Please don't leave me here alone." _

Tommy jerked awake in a blind panic, the sheets stuck to his damp body and his heart pounded in his chest. It was just a dream, just a dream and nothing more. He had never done that, had never killed his best friend and brother and had never betrayed the power itself by killing another ranger.

He pulled himself out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen; he needed coffee to wake up properly. The school was still closed after the attack; there had been very little of the school left to go back to and so for the last two days he had sat around doing nothing. There hadn't been any more attacks which worried Tommy, it should have relaxed him but the monster hadn't been wounded let alone destroyed and it had been so easy for it to hurt them; why not just finish them off?

He sat back in a chair at the table and closed his eyes, his hands cupping the warmth of the mug and trying to stop his brain whirring with a thousand questions and nightmares. He worried constantly about the Acanthid; it could hurt the team, hurt the other rangers who were still only teenagers, they didn't have years of experience and hadn't seen enough of the world to be able to…No, it was best not to think like that but the problem was that they needed protection, his protection and he had to be willing to do what was needed.

It all boiled down to how far he was willing to go and how long he could keep them safe; he couldn't subject them to that again because they were his responsibility and he was supposed to look out for them in the same way Zordon had always looked out for him. He had to find a way to end it before one of them truly got hurt; they were just kids.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kira sat back in the circle of Trent's arms and ignored the smirk Conner gave her. The sunlight shifted over her face from where they were sat beneath the tree, the breeze rustling the branches. The park was relatively peaceful despite the fact that the school had closed and the students were currently having fun, Kira was enjoying the quiet time with her friends, it had been a while since they had last done it.

Conner gave a sigh and lay back on the grass occasionally tossing his football into the air and staring at the sky. Everything seemed so quiet after the attack on the school as though they all suddenly appreciated what they meant to each other; they sat for long periods doing and saying nothing, content to just be with each other. It was funny how the silence between Trent and Kira was more meaningful now they were together and the sentimental part of Conner liked it; they didn't say anything just smiled at each other or showed the other something funny and just let it pass over their faces. It at times made him feel envious and shallow because he'd never had something like that but he still didn't begrudge his team mates.

He had a more pressing problem any how; it was obvious they were all thinking about it even if it was only occasionally. The Acanthid and the Green Ranger had filled the larger part of his thoughts since the fight and he was no closer to figuring it out; the monster's disappearance was disturbing in itself but the monster seemed erratic in any case. The green ranger was another problem entirely; Conner didn't understand why he wouldn't reveal himself after all they were on the same side and he seemed to know who they all were.

"Conner stop it." Conner started at Kira's voice and the hand on his shoulder. At his enquiring gaze Kira sighed. "I know what you're doing, we've all done it but none of us are any closer to figuring it out." She gave him an understanding smile.

"I can't seem to help it," Conner said sitting up. "It's like it pops into my head every time I'm not busy and it's damn frustrating.

"Tell me about it." Ethan said with a nod. "It's just mind blowing when you try to reason it out and trust me I've been trying to do that."

"Have any of you seen Dr.O lately?" Kira asked the question she had wanted to ask them earlier. At their shrugs and shaken heads she sighed. "Me neither, I just hope he's not worrying about it too much."

"He'll blame himself." Trent said suddenly, they looked at him questioningly. "Come on guys we all know that, we'd just be kidding ourselves if we said he wouldn't. Knowing Dr.O he'll take it upon himself to protect us from whatever comes next."

"That's the problem," Conner replied. "We don't know what's next."

_**A/N Not much to say about this apart from a period of reflection was needed so they could all nurse their wounds. As always readers reviews are more than welcome and fuel the fire of my writer's heart! xxx**_


	32. The Thorn in our side

**The Acanthid is starting to wear the whole team down and Tommy goes to visit Grace; there's a shock install… **

**Chapter 32 – The Thorn in our side**

Tommy barely suppressed a yawn for what seemed to be the hundredth time; he was exhausted; the Acanthid had attacked twice yesterday and again almost an hour ago. He rang the door bell again and hoped she was in. He smiled down at the book he held in his hand, karate was not something he pictured Grace doing or even being interested in but people surprised him all the time, he just wondered if she was any good at it.

He gave a small start as the door opened just a crack; he frowned at the darkness behind the door. "Grace?" He continued to frown when she kept one half of her face covered by her auburn hair.

"Hey Tommy." Her voice was quieter than usual, she sounded as tired as he felt.

"I just came round to say hi-" He began cheerfully.

"Um, now's not such a good time Tommy." Grace interrupted, she didn't meet his eyes.

Tommy glanced at the empty yard; she didn't have any visitors and the curtains were closed still despite the fact it was late morning. She was obviously avoiding him. "Look Grace if this is about the other day-"

"No," She said hurriedly. "I'm just…it's just not a good time, I…I'm sorry."

As she made to close the door Tommy put out a hand to halt it, he was worried now; he knew there was something wrong.

"Grace what's wrong?" He stood up onto her doorstep and pushed the door open further. She still kept her face averted so he gently turned her chin with his fingers and had to bite back a gasp when he saw her face in the shadows. One eye was black and yellow like a fading bruise, she had a half healed cut across her cheek a bruise on her jaw, there were more on her neck as though someone had grabbed her there and her bottom lip had split twice.

"Jesus Grace what happened?" He lifted her chin to examine her closely; she closed her eyes as though she were ashamed.

"It was nothing."

"Bullshit," Tommy said angrily. "No one calls this nothing."

"Leave it Tommy," She pulled away from his grasp. "It was just that day at the school-"

"What were you doing there, I thought you'd left?" Tommy demanded.

"There were students," Grace sounded slightly irritated with him. "I had to stay and help, not everyone can just run away Tommy."

Tommy felt a flash of hurt pierce his chest, but it hurt more that he couldn't explain that he had been there all along, that he had helped the only way he knew how. He couldn't say that if he had known she was still there nothing would have stopped him getting to her, stop her from being hurt and the fact that he had failed left him feeling useless.

"I…" Grace looked as though she were going to say something more. "I have to go." She said instead and shut the door in his face.

Grace slid to the floor and rested her head on her knees, she choked back her tears at her own stupidity; she shouldn't feel sorry for herself because he was being nice and she had thrown it back in his face. She had only said it to make him go, he had needed to leave before she broke down, before she asked why; why did helping someone hurt so much?

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

"She got hurt?" Kira stepped into the Dino lair and hurried over to Tommy, she had caught the last part of the conversation he was having with Hayley.

Tommy gave a short nod to the rest of the team who waited expectantly. "It was at the school when the Acanthid attacked."

"But I never saw her!" Trent said in surprise. "None of us did!"

Tommy shrugged. "None of us were looking; we were a little busy after all."

"Well is she okay?" Kira asked.

"As well as can be expected I would guess." Hayley said with a sigh. "From the sounds of things she didn't exactly escape lightly and Tommy only saw her face."

Tommy shook his head dejectedly. "She looked as though she had been strangled; there were bruises everywhere and cuts."

Trent rubbed his own neck. "I remember how that feels." He murmured, thinking back to the second fight of yesterday and the way the Acanthid had picked him up by the neck.

"Well apparently it's a favorite move." Replied Conner with a shake of his head.

"A black eye, a split lip…" Tommy trailed off with a sigh. "She does a lot for those kids, more than they know and appreciate I think."

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Conner sat idly sketching a picture of the green ranger as the computer ran through the data he had collected on the new edition to the team, so far nothing new had been discovered. Conner didn't want to admit it but he was starting to give up; he would never know who this new guy was and the others would never see him as anything other than a dumb jock with an obsession. Dr.O would never rest easy and they would all have to live with the idea that someone knew their identities and could use it against them if they chose.

They were all feeling a little down lately he knew that, they had nothing to do except wait for another attack and they all dreaded that. Those fights seemed like a waste of time, they simply involved them all getting hurt and the monster taunting them; it seemed to have a particular grudge against Dr.O and the green ranger as though it had been made specifically to go after them. The weirdest thing was that it never finished them off; it just disappeared and let the green ranger heal them.

At first they had all tried to shun the healing claiming they didn't need it but as time had worn on and the fights had increased they were at times desperate to be healed. There was constant exhaustion and they were all tired of the stinging cuts and aching bruises, a touch from the green ranger released them all from that pain and for that Conner was eternally grateful. Dr.O had mentioned last time that the green ranger was probably tired too and healing no doubt sapped his energy; he had said they all had to be extra careful and heal only when it was necessary. The problem now was that it was always necessary; they tired more easily and were quickly injured; weeks of hopeless fighting and constant injury, even when it was healed moments later, was starting to take its toll on them all.

_**A/N So people we are beginning to draw to a close, they can't continue like this for much longer… This was a little depressing but it was supposed to express their states of mind so please review, flames will be used to toast marshmallows! Xxx**_


	33. We are all flawed

**Another day, another fight…**

**Chapter 33 – We are all flawed **

"I am growing impatient." Mezagog's tone was cold and hard, something in the tone suggested finality; it made Elsa nervous.

"My Lord?" She murmured the question.

"It is a waste of time," Interjected Zeltrax. "Why does your monster not just destroy the Power Rangers and have done with it?"

Elsa made a noise of frustration. "Because you tin can, we do not have enough power to achieve that." Zeltrax made a small noise of disbelief. "We have enough power to injure them not enough to kill them but the constant drain keeps them weakened. Their powers heal them too quickly for their injuries to be fatal."

"They heal even quicker with the green ranger around." Snapped Zeltrax.

"That was the plan," Elsa replied angrily. "We get rid of her so the rest of them lose their advantage and become so weak that they cannot fight; even with the healing they are failing imagine what happens when we take it away! The green ranger's wounds in the meantime are tripled, and she cannot turn to the others for help because she hides herself from them, it will be her destruction. At the very least she will lose the power and if we are lucky…" Elsa tailed off suggestively.

"Luck is not good enough," Rasped Mezagog. "Time is passing and so far I see little achieved." Elsa bowed to him and hurried to assure him everything was going to plan. "Your creation will ruin the plan with his grudge against Dr. Oliver," Zeltrax interrupted angrily. "He should instigate the destruction of the green ranger."

"Silence!" Snapped Mezagog suddenly, he turned back to Elsa. "The green ranger is sufficiently weakened yes?"

Elsa bowed again. "I believe so Master."

"I grow impatient," He repeated. "This plan must move to its next level Elsa, the green ranger must be crushed without fail. She must be persuaded to tackle the Acanthid alone."

"I am sure that will be easy enough to bring about Master." Elsa said with a smile, a plan already formulating.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Conner choked on the hold the Acanthid had on his throat, Trent struggled to free himself from under the monster's foot but was having little luck. Ethan was faring no better having been thrown into the front window of a car; he groaned as he tired to move but everything hurt so much it seemed impossible to even breathe. Kira was currently being helped up by a limping Tommy whose suit was ripped and slashed in a dozen places and splattered with blood.

"We could do with a little help!" Conner gasped to Trent who was now trying to stab the cackling monster in the leg.

"Yeah well," Trent panted back. "If you've any favors to call in with some major super heroes now's the time to do it."

Ethan groaned as he sat up on the car. "I hate to break it to you guys but I think _we're _supposed to be the super heroes."

"YOU GUYS ARE NO FUN!" The Acanthid yelled in childish disappointment.

"Sorry to disappoint," Tommy replied angrily. "But your enjoyment isn't really my concern at the moment."

"MY MASTER DID SAY YOU HAD A SENSE OF HUMOUR!" It cried and suddenly threw Conner across the car park as though he weighed nothing more than a piece of paper.

"Conner?" Kira yelled the red ranger's name in fear and limped after him.

"IT'S JUST YOU AND ME NOW DR.OLIVER!" The Acanthid said gleefully.

Tommy put his head on one side. "I think you've forgotten something." He calmly pointed out.

"HUH?" The Acanthid looked down at Trent who gave him a little wave.

"Thundermax Saber!" He yelled and in a flash of light swept the saber across the Acanthid's foot. There was a scream of outraged pain; the Acanthid kicked Trent across the floor and still yowling in pain disappeared into an invisaportal.

Ethan rolled out of the dent in the car and struggled to his feet as Kira appeared supporting Conner, all three of them were too tired to stay morphed. Tommy picked up a giant thorn that Trent had managed to cut of with the saber, he grinned as the pained cry echoed in his ears.

"Dr.O?" The voice sounded pained and confused but it was definitely Trent's. Tommy turned, already filled with dread.

Trent stumbled out from behind a car, the saber dropped from his limp hand and his legs seemed to give way. Tommy was already running and managed to catch him; lowering him to the floor; he stared in horror at the blood blossoming on Trent's chest, staining the white suit.

"Oh God Trent!" Kira's cry galvanized Tommy into action; he ripped the tear across Trent's chest further so he could look at the wound properly. From the looks of it the Acanthid's well placed kick had stabbed Trent with a large thorn, the blood was spreading quickly and Trent was obviously in pain; his body trembling and his breathing harsh.

"It'll be okay Trent." Tommy soothed. "We'll have you back on your feet in no time."

Trent managed a pained laugh from between gritted teeth. "Time, time is ticking faster."

"What's he talking about?" Kira asked in panicked alarm. "Dr.O?"

Tommy applied more pressure to the wound and tried to stay calm. "Come on Trent stay with me." Trent was making less and less sense as he lost more blood; he was going into shock. He gave the boy a shake and tried to ignore the others. "You have to stay awake for a little while longer." He demorphed and began to rip up his shirt.

Kira seemed to get the idea and sniffed back her tears. "What ranger colour are you?" She asked putting urgency in her voice.

Trent's face puckered in confusion as he tried to think, the pain drowned everything. "I'm white." He managed to say eventually.

"Yeah…look at me Trent," She gave his hand a tug to keep his head from lolling. "Now what colour is Ethan?"

The answer was longer in coming this time, his face was pale and his eyes were hazy, his suit looked like it belonged to Conner. "There's a lot of blood." He murmured.

Tommy gave him another shake. "Stop that now Trent, answer Kira's question."

"Kira?" Trent gave her a tired smile. "You're pretty."

Kira smiled through her tears. "Then stay with me," She replied gently.

"It hurts." Tears appeared in his eyes.

"I know," She brushed the hair from his face. "I know, but you have to fight it; stay with us."

Tommy tightened the makeshift bandage and the blood finally slowed and stopped, clotting and darkening on his chest. He sat back and let out a relieved breath, they wouldn't be able to move him for a while but it looked like he would be okay, it was a bloody miracle. He swiped sweat from his forehead with a bloody hand and tried to calm his wildly beating heart.

Ethan clapped a hand onto his teacher's shoulder. "Well done Dr.O." He said comfortingly. "I guess we'd better get him back to the lair?"

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Honestly guys I feel much better!" Trent felt slightly miffed as Kira pressed him back to the bed with a frown on her face.

"You lost a hell of a lot of blood," Hayley pointed out. "Your team mates thought you were going to die so I can understand their concern."

Trent rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to die, if anything was going to kill me it was Kira's pointless questions! Dr.O saved me!"

Tommy cracked a small smile at that but it soon disappeared; he was still in shock and fear but the others seemed to be getting over it reasonably well. It was as though disaster had been averted and should therefore be forgotten; a horrible blip in the history of their team and nothing more. For him it was a horrible reality; he had nearly gotten one of his team killed. He picked up his leather jacket and began to leave.

"Dr.O are you okay?" Kira's voice echoed as silence fell, all eyes on him.

He didn't turn to look at them. "I'm fine Kira, I just have to go and do something." He left without another word.

"Oh dear." Hayley sighed and leant back in her chair. Kira nodded in agreement.

"I've just thought," Trent said suddenly. "How am I supposed to explain this to my dad? I can't really move too much but I can't stay here either."

Conner frowned. "Is there anyway we can contact the green ranger? He could heal you no problem."

Ethan looked dubious but Hayley thought about it. "You might be right Conner, he must have some form of morpher and therefore a communication device, I just have to find the right frequency!" She hurried off to do it.

Kira gave Conner a gleeful hug. "And who says your stupid?" She said affectionately, he blushed with pleasure.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

They turned at the sound of feet on the steps of the Dino lair, Hayley ushered a rather unsure looking green ranger down into the cave and over to Trent. Kira couldn't help but notice that the green ranger seemed wary and moved stiffly as though in pain.

"Um, hi." Trent broke the tense silence. The green ranger turned and looked at him and then turned back to Hayley.

"Is this the one?" Hayley nodded in reply.

Ethan and Conner moved out of the way as he approached the bed where a nervous looking Trent lay; it was an awkward situation filled with conspicuous silences. The green ranger hesitantly reached out and lifted Trent's t-shirt and then slowly unwrapped the bandages on his chest. His hands shook.

"Are you okay?" Kira stepped forwards in consternation, worried that the ranger was about to collapse.

"I'm fine." The answer was clipped making Kira take a step back; she couldn't be sure but it had almost sounded like he was afraid. He reached out again and gently pressed his gloved palms to Trent's wound; they both hissed in pain. It seemed to take longer than usual and the green ranger trembled his body tense as Trent gasped and the cut shrank.

The green clad figure suddenly gave a cry of pain and dropped to his knees clutching his chest, his body shook and his breath came short. Hayley moved them out of the way as they crowded around and knelt by his side.

"Are you okay?" The worry in her voice was clear. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," He gasped. "Please…leave me…"

"Let us help you!" Ethan urged.

"No!" The voice was pained as there was a flash and the green ranger disappeared.

Trent ran a hand down his chest and frowned. "There's something wrong." They turned to look at him. "It's not completely healed something's not right." They could all see now that the cut was smaller and half healed; scabbed over like it was a week or so old, but it had not disappeared completely like it usually did.

Conner turned back to where the green ranger had teleported. "Something's happened to him." He said grimly.

_**A/N I don't like the end of this chapter, it started out really well but it seemed to get worse; I don't know I just don't like it. I can hope that you guys do but let's just say I won't be offended if you don't, it just means we have something in common! Xxx**_


	34. We are all flawed 2

_**Wow, Grace's secret identity is really starting to get to some of you and I promise all will be revealed VERY SOON! I did think about rewriting for you guys but I finished it weeks ago so I could get ready for **__**Uni**__** and stuff without making you all wait for updates and now I don't have time to rewrite it so I'm afraid the torture continues…**_

**For ****Angellwings****; cause she seemed ****kinda**** desperate! Thank you for liking it x**

**Chapter 34 – We are all Flawed 2**

Tommy was walking to the bar. It was probably better that way considering he was planning on getting blind drunk. No dreams tonight, no nightmares and no worries. He liked the fact that it was peaceful, an out of the way place for…dedicated drinkers, yes, that was what he would call it; dedicated drinking.

He wanted one night of oblivion to stop those dreams of death, he was tired of killing his friends…reality…shit, and reality was no better. He had nearly gotten one of them killed; it hadn't been him, it had been one of them; his life nearly cut short because his teacher wasn't good enough, couldn't protect him even when it was his job. That was why he was walking; if you walked far enough away it felt like you were escaping…

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Grace winced again as she felt the cut on her chest stretch as she reached for the bread on the shelf. This was what she was reduced to; hiding in her house only going out at night, having to buy what she needed in an all night store. Sure she still got the looks but she had discovered that the guy behind the till at this hour really didn't give a damn about his customers; he glared at them whenever they bought something and he was forced to put down his magazine. The rest of the store was usually empty so she was saved the looks, the weighing glances and there were only the occasional teenagers who thought she was funny. It was actually pretty sick that they found someone who looked as though she was mugged every night for a month, funny; it was a reminder of what a crap world they lived in.

She had given up on looking at things optimistically; pain did that to people. She guessed that it must be the reason so many old people were so crabby; they were in pain and pissed off with life, arthritis and all that. Which reminded her, Kira's messed up knee needed a support bandage. That was how she looked at it now, it helped to believe they weren't hers; those wounds had happened to someone else and sometimes it managed to keep the pain away; made it fade to a dull ache like a memory. Sometimes it didn't work though; she grabbed another three boxes of pain killers and dumped them in the basket.

She wanted oblivion; she wanted a pain free hour and a deep sleep that wasn't filled with flashbacks of people's wounds and what caused them, and she didn't want to wake up and find that they were real. She liked the peace and quiet of that silent store…

"I know, it's terrible isn't it?" A loud voice in the next aisle grated on Grace's ears, she winced as it got closer, and louder.

"No, no I'm in the store at…yes, yes I know! No, I said I'm at the store!" The repetition came close to shouting.

"Yeah," Grace muttered irritably. "And now the whole world knows." She could have groaned as the woman on the phone came into her aisle.

"No, my poor baby's ill." The woman continued loudly. "Yes such a pity I know. Well I took her to the Doctor and he said she needed vitamin C." Grace rolled her eyes; it would seem that the obsessive rich mother had landed in Reefside. "Well she's tucked up in bed…what? I can't hear you. Hello, hello can you hear me?" She yelled, apparently losing the signal.

Grace dumped the packet of noodles into her basket with a little more force than was necessary. "God I wish I couldn't hear you." She muttered.

"Yes so anyway he said vitamin C but we ran out of oranges, I could have waited until morning but I couldn't help worrying that my poor baby would need some…orange juice? Oh, I am silly I didn't think of that, there's a load in the fridge!" Grace wanted to scream, she tried to each past the woman to get at the cans of soup.

"Oh my," The woman suddenly said into the phone. "Stephanie just wait a moment there is a woman in need."

Grace turned to look for her.

When she turned back the woman was right in front of her; she was a small woman dressed in black with a pink fluffy sweater and long pale gold hair. She gave the impression that despite her age she still believed she was in a sorority. Grace had trouble focusing on her face, slightly put off by how close it was. The woman still held the phone to her ear but covered the mouthpiece with a hand; she blinked up at Grace brightly.

"My dear you don't need to put up with it." Grace turned again, hoping the 'woman in need' was behind her. "Yes you dear," The woman said patiently, Grace tried to refocus again.

"Put up with it." She repeated blankly.

"Yes," Said the woman with renewed enthusiasm. "We women must stick together; at some point we must say enough is enough."

"Enough is enough." Grace repeated, wasn't that a song?

"Indeed, you must tell that man that his kind is not needed. We have a group at the mental guidance centre who deals with abuse…" She tailed off in surprise as Grace began to laugh.

It was awful really, this woman thought she had an abusive partner and she couldn't stop laughing; it hurt to laugh and now the woman was looking at her with pity in her eyes. She lifted the phone back to her mouth.

"Stephanie it is much worse than I imagined; she is quite hysterical." Grace laughed harder. "My dear," She turned back to the object of worry. "We can offer safety, as a teacher you need not be ashamed of your downfall…""My what?" Grace gasped for breath, a stitch in her side.

"It is quite understandable, all women need some form of protection you need no longer hide in the dark, your suffering can no longer be silent!" Grace had a feeling the speech was rehearsed.

"I box." Grace stated.

"You what?" The woman repeated politely, the rapid blinking was back.

"I box, you know boxing." Grace repeated and gave a slightly over the top grin; probably not helping her image of the crazy woman.

"My dear you do not need to lie to me, I quite understand the need to save face but I am not sure that it can be considered wise for a woman in your unstable condition to teach…" She trailed off at the expression on Grace's face; she was no longer laughing.

"Unstable?" She repeated coldly. "You think woman who are subjected to abuse are unstable?"

"Why no…" The woman quailed under Grace's glower. "It's just that…" She trailed off as Grace decided to have a little fun and pulled out the bottle of vodka she had previously picked up, unscrewed the lid and took a long swig. The woman's eyes nearly popped out of her head and Grace knew she hadn't seen her spit it back into the bottle.

"Right, but alcohol cures everything; I'm the leastest unstable woman I know." She slurred and made her legs wobble as though she were drunk. "You should see him," She belched loudly. "I gave as good as I got." She leaned in close to the horrified woman and whispered conspiratorially like a drunk person; loudly. "I buried him under the porch."

The woman gave a gasp of shock and Grace wondered vaguely if she actually believed it. "Toodle loo!" She dropped the basket on the floor and wiggled her fingers in a wave around the bottle and staggered off. "Nosey bint." She said to the air, she heard the outraged gasp.

"Well I never Stephanie…"

"And I hope you choke on your oranges!" Grace muttered, slapped some money onto the counter and grinned lopsidedly at the usually bored cashier. "Keep the change darlin'." She slurred.

She reflected moments later as she sat in her car, that she had probably gone a little over the top but she wasn't feeling very tolerant at the moment and that woman had pissed her off. Later on no doubt she would feel guilty after all she had thought she was helping and apparently she taught the woman's child…the burp had been a nice touch though. She gave another a little giggle and that was when her phone rang.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Hey pal." Tommy vaguely realized someone was trying to get his attention. He tried to lift his head…why wasn't it attached to his neck?

"Hey pal!" Whatever it was, it was persistent…where was his head? "Come on buddy, ye' friend's here."

Tommy couldn't recall when he had last seen Jason, but he had the feeling that Jason was missing work. He finally found his head and lifted it with his hands. He grinned blearily at the face that swam in front of him; it was the nice man who kept giving him drinks.

"Has 'n'one tol' you, you would look bad in a bikini?"

"I see what you mean." Said another voice, Tommy swung around to see who it was and nearly fell off of his stool. He giggled and turned back to the barman.

"I like dinosaurs." He said conversationally. "You you you you you…" He tailed off in confusion, his face screwed up in concentration. "'Ow many's 'at?"

"Apparently too many." Said the second voice dryly. "Tommy?" A face swam into view.

"Shit."

"Oh so you do remember me." Replied the voice in bright sarcasm.

"Yes," Tommy said unsteadily and tried desperately to act sober; her face did come into focus though. "You'd look good in a bikini." Something inside his head told him that that was a really dumb thing to say; the sober Tommy in the back of his head was not happy with how this was going.

"Isn't that just charming." Grace murmured. "Tommy can you stand?"

Tommy thought about it. "Woul' you like a drink?" he asked hopefully.

Grace seemed to pause for a few moments and then she sighed. "Right." She said wearily.

"Left." Tommy said seriously and then ruined the effect by giggling.

"You were drinking wine?" She asked.

"Makes me sle-sleeply." He replied. "You're funny." He added as she heaved him up from the stool and slung his arm about her neck.

Her eyes narrowed. "Just how much wine have you had?"

Tommy seemed to suddenly sober…well in outward appearance and expression. "Only fo-three." He stopped and considered that for a moment. "Maybe four."

"Glasses or bottles?"

He stared at her. He didn't seem to know the answer to that.

"Great," She muttered. "Just great." She turned to the barman and the empty room. "Thanks for calling."

He shrugged. "I didn't know what else to do, he seems to be in a bit of a state; I think he needs a little looking after and not just when he's drunk."

"A good smack around the head is what he needs." She grumbled as they stumbled out into the night.

"That's not very friendly." Tommy pointed out, the other voice made a warning sound.

"Let's just get you home." Grace said with a sigh.

"Yours or mine?" Tommy blinked, the night air was starting to penetrate his hazy senses; the sober voice was getting stronger and it was definitely not happy.

"Stop it Tommy." Grace sounded annoyed.

"I'm sorry." Tommy tried to straighten, get his head straight. "I think I need water."

"I think you need a life change." Grace muttered.

"Tell me about it," he said sorrowfully. "But I turn around and there it is."

"There what is?" Grace let go of him and turned to face him.

"Power," Tommy said expansively. "It doesn't go away. Do you think I'm too old for this?"

Grace shook her head, what the heck; he wouldn't remember in the morning. "No Tommy, you make a great Power Ranger you just make a lousy drunk man; everyone is flawed in some way. Now wait here while I get the car, some fresh air will do you good."

Elsa peered out into the car park from the shadows and upon seeing Tommy turned back to the tall figure beside her. "Remember I want him alive, when that green ranger comes back you must leave." Having received a nod of confirmation she stepped out into the pale light that shone from the lamp post.

"Hello Tommy." She drawled. She had to admire that despite his slightly inebriated state he tensed into the defensive position. "I seem to have caught you all alone, such a pity."

"Since I'm quite sure you haven't come for a drink," Tommy said tightly. "I'm going to ask you what you want."

"Why you of course." Elsa replied innocently.

He swayed slightly. "Sorry, I'm not available."

Elsa chuckled at his audacity; as if she would want him! "We both know that's not what I mean." She murmured drawing closer. "You're going to die Dr. Oliver but first I'm going to tell you something; you're going to die knowing that the Power Rangers are finished.""What do you mean?" Tommy asked suspiciously.

"Our latest creation has been causing you a little trouble hasn't it?" She asked, circling him.

"Only a little." Tommy gritted out. "You just like causing pain."

Elsa gave a small laugh. "But you see it's so much more than that; pain leaves eventually, it doesn't last but I can make it last for as long as I want." She watched him frown and knew he was curious. "Your poor little rangers are getting hurt," She shook her head in mock sympathy. "You try to protect them, you get them healed, but you can't protect all of them can you? There is one just outside of your reach, the one that hides from you."

Tommy felt a sense of dread enter his stomach as he guessed who she was talking about.

"That one is outside your protection Tommy, which leaves me free to hurt them, and I do hurt them a lot Tommy." She moved away from him. "Imagine a healing process that turns back in on itself; imagine wounds that disappear and then reappear somewhere else…" Tommy felt his chest clench as the answer slowly dawned on him. "…say, on another person perhaps even the person who is healing; they assimilate the wounds as it were." She grinned at him. "The great Dr. Oliver can't protect someone from themself can he? I will destroy the Power Rangers," She hissed. "And my Master's vision will complete, first I will destroy the green ranger and it will be all your fault because your team was too weak and too easily wounded."

Tommy suddenly felt as though there were another pair of eyes behind him, watching, but before he could turn Elsa spoke. "Then I will destroy those children because who will be left to save them? Only the green ranger could heal them and destroy the Acanthid but it will be far too late her, she will be destroyed… " She gave a full throated laugh, her eyes piercing the shadows as though she were looking past him, and then turned to the shadows over her shoulder. "Kill him."

A huge shape loomed out of the darkness and Tommy recognized the Acanthid immediately, he knew he was in trouble; he wasn't completely sober and it was dark. A swipe across his chest slashed his shirt and split his skin, he kicked out but his leg was caught in a clawed hand and he was flipped into the air. Tommy landed unsteadily and yelped as a hot flash of pain burst from his arm and he felt the sticky warmth of his blood. There seemed to be so little he could do; the thing was covered in thorns and he could barely see where they were and all he could think of was what if Grace came back?

A spiked blow to his head sent him sprawling onto the damp concrete; he was blinded by the pain and could feel the blood running down the side of his face. A crushing grip was suddenly wrapped around his throat and he gasped for air.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" The Acanthid hissed loudly. Tommy couldn't help but feel that the thing was right; coupled with the darkness and his lack of air everything was black. Noise was fading out like echoes until all he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears, he struggled to breathe as the hold tightened and was vaguely aware of the pain of thorns digging into his skin as the Acanthid leaned over him.

He couldn't breathe. Was this how it was going to end? He needed to live, needed to protect the others from Elsa's plan; he had to stop it, had to warn the green ranger…

_"Giving up Tommy?"_ A disdainful voice echoed in the back of his head. _"That's just like you, weak and pathetic."_It was a familiar voice, it haunted his dreams; falling into darkness…

_"Tommy!"_ The hold about his neck was gone…or could he simply not feel it anymore? Someone was calling him again, was it the same person? "_Tommy can you hear me? Tommy __please__…"_ It echoed in his head but he was falling too fast…

_"Tommy!" _

_**A/N Yeah I **__**know the bi**__**t with Grace in the shop was a bit random but I was in a funny mood and just ended up writing it. The rest of it seemed to go okay though and I hope you all understood Elsa's plan on how to get Grace to fight the **__**Acanthid**__** alone, there are a couple of **__**hints that she was listening**__** at the end**__**… Anyways hope you guys understood it all and are looking forward to the next bit, it**__** won't be**__** long**__** until the end**__** now… xxx**_


	35. And I broke the Mirror

**Just a short one folks but I wanted to put it in somewhere so here it is. **

**Chapter 35 – And I broke the mirror**

"You are quite sure?" The voice rasped from the shadows.

Elsa smiled. "Quite sure Master, I told the black ranger that only the green one could destroy the monster, I know he fell for it and so did she."

"Good." Mezagog sank back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. "She will search the Acanthid out and being as she is already weakened the fight will not last long."

"You are sure she was listening?" Zeltrax asked skeptically.

"Yes," Elsa snapped. "She thought I hadn't seen her round the corner of the building but she was there. Even if she hadn't been it is likely the black ranger will now guess her identity and would have told her. The plan was flawless."

……………………………………………………………….

_He was cold in this darkness, no light and no comfort. It was frightening to feel nothing around, like he was alone in the universe like he could drop off the edge and never stop falling._

_This was like his nightmares, like the feelings they produced; the cold, the silence in the dark and the unending loneliness. Was this darkness in his soul, was this what was inside of him?_

_"Still here? Still fighting the truth?" the voice was familiar, a voice he heard every day…but he couldn't place it and couldn't speak to ask. That echo of familiar laughter, that taunting and mocking tone inside of his soul, freezing his heart._

_It was still dark as it had always been, he was sure of that, but now he could see; could see the endless dark space around him, but that one pale and source less light made all the difference._

He was moving, the feel of wind that brushed across his face like a caress and his body was floating on it like it was happening somewhere outside of him. But always dark, still in the dark.

"Tommy."

_"Tommy, Tommy. Still with us?"_

_Back to the cold and the echoing voice. He found his own. "Us?"_

_"Me and you Tom." The voice faded into the darkness. "Indivisible. Brothers."_

_"Jason?" The question was tentative._

_The laughter was loud and grated on his ears, but it faded gradually as though its owner was leaving. "But I'm still here." The voice made him whirl round; it had been a whisper right by his ear. "I'm always here. Why don't you take a look?"_

_He turned back to find a tall mirror which seemed to be the source of the faint glow, it shone like light on the water in summer so that it seemed white and smooth like ice. He stepped forwards slowly, unsure why he felt compelled to do as the voice suggested and afraid of what might happen if he did._

Light, blinding in its intensity and the warmth rolled over him like a wave. He wanted to stay because it felt safer there but safety meant he could sleep and someone was calling his name, calling him back; but to where?

_It was nothing, just a mirror and he stared back at himself; a figure against a black background, with tousled spikes and large dark eyes._

_"There I am." A whisper at his ear again. _

_The mirror exploded, shattered into a thousand pieces of light and then all was dark…_

…………………………………………………………………………………………

She had dropped him off at Hayley's, left him on the doorstep and rang the bell; waiting in the bushes for the inevitable cry of alarm and surprise. The light had flooded across the yard, blinding; frightening and inviting all at the same time but now she wanted the darkness and a place to hide.

She had left the car by the road, she didn't have the energy to drive; she could only imagine crashing because she needed sleep and everything kept going dark. The urgency that had kept her going was gone now, it had gone with Tommy but the blood on the side of her face reminded her that she kept a little piece of him with her.

She tried teleporting but she was so tired that the journey came in small bursts; there was the road and then her street, empty and quiet. Her stairs in the dark. She vaguely remembered pulling herself up them with every muscle protesting and leaving a trail of red droplets on the carpet like spilled ink.

The moon was bright and painted her world silver and red, everything was pure sensation; she had to catch herself on the door to her bedroom and felt the cold paint beneath her fingers. She had staggered and swept her hand over the wall leaving a smudged print in red, but a wall couldn't save her.

She was falling. She didn't hear the sound of a breaking mirror; simply fell to the floor in a scatter of red beading and silver shards that glinted in the moonlight…

_**A/N See short and dramatic with a weirdly **__**Sin**____**City**__** theme at the end with the red white and black. Like I said I just wanted to put it in somewhere and it was too long to just slot into another chapter, besides it's only for dramatic effect. Oh, and you're probably wondering how Grace is still alive after all the blood she's been losing lately. Well earlier when she was doing her shopping you may have noticed she bought noodles and vodka; I maintain that these are a good substitute for blood! Or if not simply a nice meal with some fun afterwards! xxx**_


	36. The Questions

**You'll note that there are a lot of questions in this chapter and it's kind of paired with another one which you'll understand when you see the title for it. **

**Any hoo, Tommy makes a few connections and Grace plucks up her courage…**

**Chapter 36 - The questions**

"_Tommy." _They were calling again, someone was always calling his name but he couldn't work out if they were the same person…

"_Tommy?"_ He didn't want to wake up because something told him there would be trouble if he did; he was safe here between waking and sleeping.

He remembered the mirror and the shadows calling his name. _"Tommy."_ It was growing louder. He remembered the struggle for breath and someone calling his name, full of worry…

"Tommy?" He opened his eyes blearily and gave a groan as bright light burst through his lids. "Oh thank God." The voice on his left said with relief.

"Hayley?" Tommy twisted his head to look for the owner of the voice. "Where the heck am I?"

Hayley helped him sit up slowly. "The Dino lair, I brought you here so I could keep an eye on your vitals."

Tommy scrubbed a hand through his hair. "How did I get here?" he asked in confusion. "Last thing I remember was a large thorny monster trying to crush my throat having beaten my ass into the ground."

"Well you're looking good for it." Hayley replied with a small smile. "No cuts and bruises and from every indication you're still breathing."

Tommy put a hand up to his throat, testing his skin. "Believe me, it's just as surprising to me; I thought I was dead."

"Again," Hayley turned off the heart monitor. "You look good for it, being dead is obviously very you." Tommy managed a small laugh at that. "So you don't remember what happened?"

Tommy frowned and shook his head. "I take it you don't know either?" He asked hopefully.

Hayley sighed and shrugged. "I woke up when someone rang the doorbell at two o'clock in the morning, I found you lying unconscious on the doorstep. I figured you'd passed out before I got there."

Tommy shook his head. "I was at a roadside bar all night…" he frowned and rubbed his head. "It's a bit of a blur after that." He smiled apologetically.

"So I guessed." Hayley said dryly. "You stank of alcohol but I knew it must have been something more when I saw the state of your clothes." Tommy looked down and fingered the blood spattered rips in his t-shirt. Hayley passed him a new set of clothes and gestured for him to go behind the screen.

His head was still whirling as he tried to remember what had happened; someone had been calling his name but their voice had changed, there had been three of them; three voices that had cut through the dark and only one of them had been Hayley's.

"Where are the others?" He stepped out from behind the screen, the thought suddenly coming to mind.

Hayley didn't look up from the computer where she was busy entering Tommy's medical log. "There was another attack this morning." She sighed as though wishing she didn't have to tell Tommy this. "The Acanthid seemed to be in a particularly bad mood and the Green Ranger didn't turn up."

"And…" Tommy prompted, sensing that there was more.

"And their powers took a big hit, they couldn't morph they were exhausted; if the monster attacks again we're in trouble."

Tommy tried to process the implications of this; Reefside was effectively unprotected now he was the only Ranger with any morphing capability. He could only imagine what state the teens were in after taking such a hit, if they couldn't morph they must have been wishing for their black clad mentor…or the green healer.

"Wait, you said the green ranger didn't turn up?"

Hayley nodded as she sifted through the paper and the notes she had taken ready to type into the system. "I haven't been able to contact him either; after all it's pretty obvious that he healed you last night but I just hope nothing has happened to him. Elsa hasn't made any demands or sent any messages so it's probable he isn't-"

"Elsa?" Tommy frowned, trying to remember the previous night's events. "Elsa was there last night crowing about her plan, something about assimilating wounds." Why had he gotten drunk? Now he couldn't remember a damn thing, and then there had been the hit to his head.

Hayley glared at the mess on the desk in front of her, she'd lost the files for the other rangers and they had to be somewhere in all the junk. "Assimilating?" She queried, half listening. "Like taking on someone else's wounds?"

"Yeah," Tommy rubbed the side of his head. "She said something about the green ranger getting hurt because he was helping us; he takes on our wounds and he's outside of my protection."

Hayley winced as she continued her search. "He's getting your wounds? Sounds painful Tommy, I mean some of the stuff that's happened to you guys is pretty serious; like that time Trent got stabbed with a thorn, Kira's black eye and that time Ethan got half strangled; those bruises looked awful-"

Tommy blocked out the rest of Hayley's words, his head was pounding and there was a strange ringing in his ears. It all came to him in flashes; her bruised face through a drunken blur, the marks around her throat as she stood at the doorway. Kira's black eye on a different face, Conner's shoulder and his own hand; cut on test tubes and bandaged by her...Grace.

Then there had been last night; she'd been covered in old bruises and Elsa had finally told him why…Elsa, of course; now he remembered the feel of another pair of eyes and Elsa had said…

"She said 'she'" He murmured out loud. "Elsa knew all along, the clues; I was blind."

"Did you say something?" Hayley asked distractedly.

Tommy didn't seem to hear, ideas came flooding to him; realizations and he spoke them out loud. He stared at his palm, the one that had been cut. "It was there all the time right in front of me, she was always getting hurt…always knew just what to say because she knew."

"_You make a great power ranger Tommy." _That was what she had said, had thought he wouldn't remember, had kept herself a secret. How could he have been so dumb? Why hadn't she told them who she was? Elsa had realized it was dangerous to keep them separated, she could use it…

Tommy's head shot up and a sense of dread overwhelmed him. "She knew it," He said out loud. "She knew that all she had to do was separate us."

"Tommy?" Hayley's confused voice didn't penetrate.

"She's going to get killed!" He jumped off of the bed and grabbed his jacket; he had to get to Grace before it was too late. He ran past Hayley and out of the dino lair.

"Tommy where are you going?" Hayley yelled after him.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Grace's footsteps crunched faintly on the broken mirror's shards, she was only vaguely aware of them. Every bone in her body ached but she had pulled herself up that morning with a new determination because she was the only one who could do what was needed. Elsa had made it clear last night; she was the only one who could defeat the Acanthid and she was the only one who could protect the others.

She had only one advantage; Elsa didn't realize that she knew, she had told Tommy everything without realizing the real threat had been stood in the shadows listening, she hadn't heard everything but now she knew that she had to face the Acanthid alone. So that was what she was going to do. She looked down at herself and felt slightly dissatisfied, if she was going to do this she didn't want to be in disguise for once she was going to be herself. She closed her eyes and pictured Kira's tunic the 'dress' version of the Power Rangers suits, when she opened them and looked down again she was wearing one too; no one would be able to mistake her for a man again. The bandages were gone and the new long tunic clung to her like a second skin, now she was ready.

She made her way slowly down the stairs, she felt strangely numb like there was no sensation; she didn't notice the lampshade she had knocked over the other night or the blood that smeared the walls in smudged hand prints. She simply stepped into her yard and yelled for Elsa as loud as she could; it would work, she knew it.

"Well Green ranger what can I do for you?" Elsa's sneering drawl floated from behind her.

Grace turned. "Hello Elsa." She replied calmly.

Elsa raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm sure you didn't ask me here for idle chit chat," She said, sounding bored. "And I certainly don't want to waste my time talking to you, so tell me what you want."

"I want this to stop."

Elsa let out a shriek of laughter. "Stop! Why would it stop when my master and I are having such fun?"

"Where is the Acanthid?" Grace asked numbly, ignoring Elsa's taunts.

The leather clad woman waved a hand dismissively. "I can never be too sure," She drawled. "Knowing him he's out having fun somewhere, he likes destruction. Why, thinking of challenging him?"

Grace took a deep breath, keeping the calm firmly in place like a blanket. "Yes."

Elsa threw back her head and cackled gleefully. "The green ranger versus my creation! Why you're nothing more than a useless teacher, what could you possibly do to him?" She gave another laugh. "Well why not? If you're so sure of yourself my little teacher this will be worth watching. The last I saw of him he was at the warehouses on the dock, why not go and see if he's still there?"

Grace hesitated slightly, there was something about Elsa's manner like she was eager, but she felt her determination rise again; she had to do this…

Elsa watched as the green ranger gave a single nod and teleported out of her yard. She smiled to herself; all she had to do now was wait.

_**A/N As always guys reviews are always greatly appreciated I love it when I get them! Hope you enjoyed it and are relatively happy with how Tommy managed to discover Grace was the green ranger, the next installment is coming soon! Xxx**_


	37. Alone

**Tommy's afraid for Grace, he has to tell her she isn't alone…**

**Butt Kicking ahoy!**

**Chapter 37 – Alone**

Tommy could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he ran. Grace had to be there, she had to know the truth and understand what Elsa was planning.

He understood it all now; Elsa had known Grace was listening that night at the bar, she had counted on Grace being there and the plan had been flawless. Elsa had found the excuse she would need to reveal her plan; pretend to try and kill him when Grace was near by and instead tell her that only she could defeat the Acanthid. He knew Grace would take that chance to stop it all; he knew because he would have done the same; would do anything to stop the others from getting hurt and stop the destruction. He could only pray that her injuries and the new ones from last night were weakening her and that she had been unable to leave her house.

At the same time such knowledge frightened him, if she was too weak to move was she dying, was she okay? He didn't know what he'd do if she…no, he couldn't think like that, she was stronger that Elsa knew. She was stronger than any of them had ever imagined.

He shot round the corner of her house and into the yard, struggling for breath and ended up bent double gasping. He couldn't remember the last time he'd run that far but for some reason the teleportation on his communicator was on the blink, usually he'd take it for Hayley to look at but he didn't have time for that now. He jerked himself upright and ran to her door. He pounded on the door and felt fear shiver up his spine when it simply swung open beneath his fist.

He stuck his head in and his breath caught his breath when he saw the mess in the hallway. He pushed the door open further so he could get a better look at the devastation; a vase of flowers had been knocked to the floor and the brightly coloured heads wilted on the carpet. The blue carpet was splattered with blood droplets, Tommy walked forwards slowly, and stepping around a broken lampshade he walked into the lounge where the only sign of trouble was the occasional beading of blood on the floor.

The kitchen was much the same but there was spilt water on the table and blood in the sink with a broken mug. He hurried back out into the hallway and caught his breath as he finally saw the stairs. Blood was scattered over the carpet, soaking darkly into the blue as though someone had flicked a paint brush over the floor. He let out a choked gasp as he caught sight of the walls; they were smeared with blood as though the wounds had been rubbed across the walls, in places there were indistinct and smudged handprints. The sight of them galvanized him into action.

"Grace?" he yelled as he ran up the stairs, he continued calling for her as he ran for her room only glancing in the others to make sure she wasn't there. Her room was a mess; blood smeared the door frame and splashed the bed covers, the pale green wall on the left was smeared with blood and ended in a dark handprint. The long mirror that had previously stood there was scattered on the floor in silver shards and there amongst them was a large dark stain of blood. She had obviously lain in that spot for a while…or fallen.

He didn't know what made him kneel for a closer look, it was like he was compelled to and he simply felt numb like his head couldn't really work out what it was seeing. He felt strangely detached. The stain had obviously been a pool at some point but it had sunk into the cream carpet; it still felt slightly damp on his fingertips as though like a sponge it had sucked up as much as it could. There was another smaller stain higher up suggesting the large stain was from her chest or stomach and the other was her head, it made his own chest clench. He stood shakily and put a hand out to steady himself, his hand encountered a sticky substance; he pulled his hand away and stared at it, there was a fainter handprint on the door frame which pointed a different way to the others. Hope flared in him at the same time as a new wave of fear; she had obviously picked herself up and left not that long ago, it was still damp, but she was also still bleeding…

He ran down the stairs two at a time and leapt out of the door; he might be able to catch up with her, he needed to find her and tell her that she had been tricked; he had to help her. She was alone…

"Dr. Oliver!" Tommy slammed to a standstill and turned slowly, recognizing the drawl instantly. Elsa was sat on the hood of Grace's car with a smug smile on her face.

"Where is she?" He ground out; the detached feeling still thrummed his head.

"Where is who?" Elsa replied with a yawn.

"Don't play games with me." Tommy continued walking towards her. "I won't play them anymore."

"Why whatever do you mean Tommy?" Elsa was the picture of wide eyed innocence.

"You knew she would be there that night, you knew she would try to stop the Acanthid on her own."

Elsa laughed and slid off the hood to lean against the door. "I cannot tell a lie, although I do like to tell them occasionally." She smiled again. "It worked perfectly you must admit, you rangers are so predictable; each one trying to save the others, so determined for self sacrifice I simply deliver. Supply and demand Tommy, supply and demand."

"Where is she?" Tommy grabbed her and pinned her against the car, he thought he saw a flicker in Elsa's eyes. Was it fear? He wondered vaguely what expression was on his face to scare Elsa that much.

"Now, now Tommy." Elsa laughed shakily. "Where's the calm leader we all know and love?" His dark eyes seemed deeper, fathomless and dead…

"I am calm." Tommy stated blandly. Elsa nodded hurriedly in agreement. "Answer me, for the last time Elsa where is she?"

Elsa gulped and tried to stay very still, her courage failed her. "I…I'm not sure-" Tommy's grip tightened menacingly, Elsa couldn't remember being this scared even of Mezagog. "She went looking for the Acanthid," She continued hurriedly.

"Where?"

"Um…the warehouses by the dock, the old ones." She licked her lips nervously. "They might still be there."

"For your sake you'd better hope they are." Tommy growled, Elsa shuddered; had his eyes just flashed green or was it just her imagination?

He shoved himself away from her, pushing her back against the car and driving the breath from her body and leaving her slumped. He was nearly at the end of the yard when he turned back to her.

"And Elsa, if anything has happened to her you'd better start running because I'll be coming to find you, and even your master can't save you from me." He ran from the yard.

Elsa let out the breath she had been holding and folded into a pile beside the car, her hands trembled. Tommy Oliver had darkness in him….

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Grace stepped cautiously around a concrete pillar that stood in the warehouse, so far the Acanthid had proved elusive, deciding he would play hide and seek instead; for a creature so large he was pretty good at it. A small explosion next to her head sent her sprawling; okay make that very good at it. She rolled back behind the pillar and stood slowly, adjusting her grip on the Thundermax Saber.

"COME ON LITTLE RANGER!" The Acanthid's voice echoed in the empty space. "STOP HIDING, YOU AREN'T SCARED ARE YOU?"

Grace didn't move. "I could say the same thing of you," She yelled back. "This is your game not mine!"

The Acanthid seemed to consider this for a moment. "I HATE YOU," It said eventually. "I WANT TO DESTROY YOU."

Grace shook her head in disbelief a small snort of laughter escaping her. "Trust me, the feeling's mutual." She replied. She took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the pillar and faced the Acanthid in a fighting stance. "Let's get this over with." She said grimly.

The Acanthid gave a roar and rushed towards her, she stepped back and avoided the first swing of his thorny clubbed arm, and she sank into a crouch attempting to knock the monster's legs out from under him. The Acanthid kicked her sweeping leg away so she stood and grabbed the rushing monster by a large thorn, ignoring the way it sliced through her glove and into her hand, and turned kneeling as she did. She used the monster's weight against him and it sailed over her head and onto its back.

Its speed caught her by surprise again; before she could stand and turn a large spiked foot slammed into her shoulder blades, she flew forwards and landed with a thud on her stomach and chest, knocking the air out of her lungs and she was sure she had cracked a rib, her back hurt like hell too. The Acanthid grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her backwards; it obviously stumbled because her legs were suddenly dropped so she rolled over and rammed her feet into the monster's legs. Her own legs protested at the amount of force she had used and the thorns they encountered, she thanked God the soles of her boots were tough enough to protect her feet. The Acanthid reeled backwards leaving her room to recover.

She flipped backwards; she had never been able to do that before and her own surprise caught her off guard, her hesitation was rewarded with the slice of a thorned hand that smacked her into the wall and sent her blood splashing across the floor.

The Acanthid gave a gleeful giggle, content to watch her struggle up from the floor. No sooner had she stood than the Acanthid grabbed her by her tunic and swung her around, she couldn't find her feet and she landed hard on the concrete, she spat out the mouthful of blood she had and struggled to her feet.

"WHAT?" The Acanthid exclaimed. "YOU WANT MORE?"

Before Grace could reply she was yanked upright and clubbed around the head with a huge clawed fist. Even with her helmet on the blow made her ears ring and she was sure she had heard something crack, from the pain she could feel it obviously hadn't been her neck, it almost made her regret she hadn't been killed.

Yet again she found herself flung through the air and she made contact with the concrete wall. The blow made her scream in pain, she felt the stone behind her crumble with the force of the impact, she fell to all fours and tried to shake the black spots from her vision. She couldn't help the tears that stood in her eyes; it hurt too much to shake off and she could barely breathe through the pain. Somewhere in the back of her head a voice was screaming at her to get back up, to fight and not give up but at the moment it was being drowned out by another voice that was telling her to curl up and die. She was so stupid to come here, to think she could do this; to think she could ever be a Power Ranger.

Her arms and legs were shaking with exhaustion and pain, they gave way and she ended up flat on her stomach barely able to move.

She was going to die, she was going to fail; and she was alone…

An animal like roar ripped the air and had her raising her head slightly to see who could make such a noise. The Acanthid turned too and was struck to the floor as the black ranger soared through the air and landed a flying kick on the monster. The ranger landed with his Brachiostaff ready and Grace remembered how to breathe again….

_**A/N Wahoo! I did a fight scene that actually didn't suck yey for me! Well guys not long now and I hope you're enjoying it because I'm having loads of fun writing it and I hope you liked the scene, I tried to choreograph it before hand and get some good moves in; unfortunately I have no knowledge of karate so we're stuck with old fashioned hand to hand combat which I do actually know! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! xxx **_


	38. The Answers

**A nice long one for you all because I'm feeling generous! The second part to 'Questions' in which Tommy comes to the rescue and Conner becomes the hero…**

**Chapter 38 – Answers**

Conner continued to pound on the door of house and ignored Ethan's grumbling.

"Leave it Conner," He was saying. "Dr.O's obviously not in and breaking down his door is seriously not going to help."

"Quit whining Ethan," Conner snapped. "Where else would he be?"

"You know," Ethan replied sarcastically. "It may be impossible to comprehend but you know he might actually have a life, I mean one outside of being a teacher and a Power Ranger; he might be out with a friend."

"Like who?" Snorted Conner pausing in his attempt to beat the door down. He turned to face his blue clad friend, his black eye making him look like he was glaring; Ethan reflected that under all the bruises Conner probably was glaring.

"How about Hayley?"

Conner snorted again and turned back to the door. "See I told you."

Ethan frowned at the red ranger's back. "Are you saying she's not his friend or just that she's not 'fun' enough to be friends with?"

"Neither," Conner shrugged and then winced as his bruised ribs made themselves known. "I just figure that they both need to get a life; two people who need a life don't hang around together, that would be a whole lot of no life sitting in one place."

"What?"

"Trust me, they couldn't help each other because they both have the same problem; they need to get out more, if they can't sort themselves out how are they supposed to sort each other out?"

Ethan tried to sort through the logic in his head but his thoughts were interrupted. "Wow the words from the wise." Kira's dry comment floated over his head to Conner who simply turned and scowled.

The yellow and white rangers were stood hand in hand with grins on their faces. "You two look like shit." Trent commented.

"Yeah well you don't exactly look the picture of health either." Conner pointed out.

Kira pretended to blush and touched the bandage on her arm. "So full of compliments Conner, where do you come up with them all?" Conner rolled his eyes as Ethan snickered.

Conner turned back to the door and eyed it critically; Kira came to stand beside him. "You know," She said conversationally. "It's a lot easier to walk through when it's open." She reached up on her tip toes and brought down a key from the ledge above the door. "Have you tried this?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

Conner grinned and opened the door with it, closing it behind the others when they had all trooped in.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Tommy pulled Grace up carefully, keeping an eye on the Acanthid which was struggling to stand. She seemed to be having trouble breathing; her hands scrabbled at the helmet, desperate to get it off.

"Easy, easy." He murmured and helped her pull it off. She gave a gasp as her face was hit by the fresh air; blood was trickling down the side of her cheek from a cut in her eyebrow; apparently inflicted by the broken helmet that he now held. One side of the helmet was dented and cracked; Tommy had to admit that he surprised she hadn't been knocked out, the crumbled dent in the wall also shocked him.

"Grace, are you okay?" he tilted her head up to get a good look at her. He used one gloved hand to wipe the blood from her eye and studied her glazed expression.

"Tommy." Her voice was little more than a whisper as her chest heaved, her lungs screaming for air.

Though she couldn't see it he smiled beneath his helmet. "I thought you could do with some help greenie." His teasing tone made her smile causing an old cut to open on her lip and begin to bleed; Tommy felt a flicker of pain across his chest at the sight of her old wounds, they seemed numerous. He passed his fingertips over the shadowy bruises and half healed cuts.

As though guessing what he was thinking she gave a tentative smile. "It doesn't hurt so much anymore." She murmured softly.

"NO!" The Acanthid interrupted with a cackle. "I GAVE HER SOME NEW ONES TO THINK ABOUT!"

Tommy felt a strange detached rage build within him until he saw red; Grace's eyes flickered uncertainly over his face and made him wonder what she was seeing. He turned to face the red and green monstrosity.

"You're going to pay for this." He said with certainty.

"THAT IS A SHAME," The Acanthid joked. "I HAVEN'T ANY MONEY."

"Then it will be a payment in blood." Tommy replied grimly and charged the monster.

The Acanthid aimed a blow to his head but Tommy slid away from the fist, instead he grabbed the Acanthid's arm and swung it around as hard as he could, it stumbled uncertainly. Tommy turned his body into the monster blocking the punch to his stomach but the next blow was a feint and it caught him squarely on the head, his ears started ringing. Caught off guard the Acanthid swept his legs out from under him so that Tommy landed on his back; he scissored his legs out attempting to do the same to the monster but only succeeded in scratching up his legs and spattering the thorns with his blood.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Trent slumped into the sofa in the Dino lair with a sigh and rubbed his side, a particularly well aimed kick had left one side of his torso covered in black bruises as though he had been rolling in soot. "Heaven knows where he is." He said with a shake of his head. "We haven't seen him since I got stabbed with that thorn."

Kira shrugged and instantly wished she hadn't. "He's right guys, I'm worried about him; he blames himself if anything happens to us and Jason said he's worse than ever."

"Huh?" Ethan's articulate reply came from across the lair where he sat at the computers.

"He's been a Power Ranger for years right?" Kira explained. "He's led at least three teams during that time."

"Yeah," Conner said with a sigh. "And knowing Dr.O I'll bet he took his responsibilities really seriously."

"Exactly," Kira said with a nod. "At least that's what Jason said, but he said Dr.O was even worse; he constantly worries about it."

Trent sighed. "It must be because we're not his age like his friends were; he does the whole adult protection thing."

"What are you guys doing here?" Hayley's surprised voice made them turn to the stairs that Hayley had just stepped down from.

"We came looking for Dr.O." Ethan said. "Have you seen him?"

"You guys should be resting." Hayley said with a shake of her head, and walking over to her desk to sift through the papers. "You need to get your strength up so you can morph again."

Kira frowned, there was something going on; Hayley wouldn't meet their eyes and she hadn't answered Ethan's question. "Hayley what's going on? What aren't you telling us, has something happened to Dr.O?"

Hayley sighed and sat down heavily in her customary chair. "Tommy had a little trouble last night with our thorny friend." Seeing their worried faces she held up a hand. "He's fine," She said quickly. "The green ranger took care of him and dropped him off but now he's missing and I can't find him anywhere."

"Missing?" Conner repeated worriedly.

Hayley nodded and sighed again. "I think his communicator may have been broken in last night's fight so I can't track him or get hold of him, either that or he's…" She trailed off with a shake of her head.

"Either that or he's refusing to answer." Trent finished grimly, Hayley merely nodded.

"Why would he do that?" Kira asked in confusion.

"He's purposefully keeping us out of the way," Ethan explained. "It's his way of ensuring we don't get hurt which means he's off doing something dangerous and that means he's probably taking on the Acanthid."

"Alone?" Conner exclaimed. "We have to find him, we may not be able to morph but we still have to help him!" The others quickly agreed. "Hayley, didn't he give any clue as to where he might be going?"

Hayley shook her head and seemed to think about it. "He mentioned Elsa and something about her plan to get the green ranger assimilate your wounds."

Trent frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Conner discovered that the green ranger's power is healing but the Acanthid does something to the healing process; it's like the power doubles back on itself and instead of completely healing the wound simply transfers it to the person doing the healing."

"That's awful!" Kira said in disgust. "Think of all those times the green ranger healed us!"

Hayley moved over to the computer, followed by the rangers. "There isn't anything I can do for the green ranger at the moment and heaven knows what state he's in after healing Tommy last night, but I may be able to trace Tommy through his residual energy."

"Are you alright?" Trent's voice broke Kira's thoughts.

"What? Oh yes, I was just thinking about wounds, I bumped into Cassidy's mother this morning she was babbling about Cassidy being sick but she mentioned Grace. She kept wittering on about her looking like she was being abused, you know covered in bruises and blood."

"What?" Conner's head snapped around from the screen where he, Hayley and Ethan were trying to create a trace.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

The Acanthid loomed over Tommy like a dark shadow; Tommy braced himself for the blow and the hammer like pain. Grace, forgotten until that moment, suddenly shot forwards and jumped on to the Acanthid's back ignoring the thorns and beating it about the head with her fist.

The Acanthid gave a roar of surprise and staggered away from Tommy, allowing him to stand and consider his approach. He ended up just hacking at it with his staff. The Acanthid seemed to be having problems dislodging Grace who was holding on with all of her strength; he flailed wildly at Tommy, preventing him from striking for fear of hurting Grace.

She was finally dislodged and fell from the monster's back in a slither of blood, her suit slashed and bloodied by the thorns. The Acanthid was thrown off balance by the sudden lack of weight and stumbled backwards, tripping over Grace who had fallen to all fours. Tommy stumbled over weakly to help her up. "You're hurt." Grace gasped, she took his offered hand.

Tommy instantly guessed what she meant to do. "No! Grace-" he was cut off as an icy shiver traveled up his spine and Grace healed him. Caught in the web of healing he felt unable to move even when she cried out in pain and new wounds began to appear on her body, it gave the Acanthid time to recover. It grabbed Grace, yanking her hand from Tommy's and heaving her up into the air, it threw her as hard as he could sending her skidding across the floor to fetch up against one of the pillars where she lay upon her side, bloodied and still.

Tommy felt the panic rise in his throat like bile. "Grace!" He screamed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"Remember Tommy said she'd been hurt at the school, Cassidy's mother just likes exaggerating that's all. I mean for goodness she was going on about her being an alcoholic!" Kira laughed.

Conner dismissed the last bit. "But the attack on the school was at least two weeks ago, the bruises should be fading."

Kira stared at him confused. "So?"

Conner sat down heavily in a chair and looked like he was having some sort of epiphany, a glint in his eyes. "Hayley did Tommy say anything else?"

Hayley frowned. "Not really, he kept going on about Elsa knowing all along and something about saying 'she' and getting herself killed, why what's wrong Conner?"

"Elsa knew all along," Conner murmured. "Of course that would explain the 'she." He looked up excitedly. "It would explain the black eye that Kira had all the cuts and the bruises…when she was there that day on the field fighting, or even at the school. She was the one thing we all had in common that day!"

"What are you talking about dude?" Ethan asked.

Conner stood and paced before them. "That day we were all healed the first time, I was trying to find one thing we all had in common; she was it! I took her my assignment and she looked at my bruise, Kira was there when she fainted…Dr.O had cut his hand, remember he said that Grace had bandaged it?" The others frowned, trying to keep up. "And Trent…" He trailed off with a frown. "Something happened that you didn't tell us, but you were with her that day weren't you?"

Trent nodded slowly, starting to see where Conner was going; he had fallen asleep and Grace had talked to him about his father.

"Grace found the map!" Conner said excitedly. "That explains it, Dr.O met Grace the day he lost the map; he bumped into her and dropped it, she must have picked it up and found the dino gem!" He turned back to his team mates. "Don't you get it guys? Grace is the green ranger!"

_**A/N And so you see Conner's problem is solved; he is not the dumb jock and he has worked it all out…Now, what are they going to do about it! Tee hee cliffie! Please review and tell me what you think! xxx**_


	39. Fighting for Life

**Another long one for your enjoyment! 7 pages of A4 in fact! Xxx**

**Things come to a head as Tommy and Grace take on the Acanthid and the rest of the Rangers need Hayley's help…will they make it..?**

**Chapter 39 – Fighting for Life**

"What the hell?" Ethan was the first to break the silence that had reigned for some time in the Dino lair. The rest of them were still trying to process the information a grinning Conner had given them, so far they all seemed to be struggling.

"Come on guys its simple!" Conner laughed exasperatedly. "Don't you see? All of the circumstances we've been in point to Grace being the green ranger, every time we were around her we all got healed we just didn't realize at the time!"

"But surely we'd notice?" Trent pointed out. "Like that time she healed my chest and we saw the cut vanish right in front of us."

Conner waved a hand dismissively. "It seems she can cause different speeds of healing and those first times she healed us the injuries were old, they took longer to appear on her own skin."

Kira shook her head. "Now I'm even more confused."

"You and everyone else here." Ethan agreed.

"I think Conner's right," Hayley interrupted. "Circumstances do suggest that Grace is the green ranger; like that time you found her fighting Elsa what better explanation than she is the green ranger, it also explains all of her wounds.

"We have to find her!" Conner exclaimed. "She can help Dr.O, he can't fight the Acanthid alone he'll be killed!"

Hayley shook her head. "Who knows what state she's in Conner; she's been healing you guys for weeks and last night she had to help Tommy."

"Even if she can't help Dr.O, we should find her and see if she's okay," Trent replied. "If she's hurt she might need our help."

Hayley considered it for a moment. "I guess you're right but I don't like sending you out to look for her unprotected; Mezagog and his cronies might be with her."

"Even more reason to help her." Ethan said grimly. "We can't just leave her in trouble."

Hayley sighed, apparently giving in. "Okay but you need to stick together and you won't be able to teleport since you're morphers are off line. She'll be hurt so she'll be at her house but if we've guessed that than Elsa will too, so please be careful."

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tommy thought he was going crazy; his eyes were filled with a red mist and an uncontrollable rage gripped him and drowned all of his other instincts. He could barely feel the cuts and bruises he had gained since seeing Grace flung across the room, it was like they were all happening to someone else. The Acanthid had been slightly taken aback by Tommy's renewed assault and had pulled out his own weapon; a large saber that looked like one of his own giant thorns.

The thorn blade arced up and then down with a force that jarred Tommy's arms as he blocked from underneath and broke away. He ignored the urge to shake out his arms as the monster cut at him from the side; he parried the thrust and circled blocking as the Acanthid hacked at him, sending sparks from their weapons as they met.

The monster rushed at him, intimidating him with size and force; Tommy blocked swiftly and parried the returning blow before blocking again. He saw the opening instantly and whirled in a full circle bringing his staff to the monster's neck but at a split second the Acanthid moved in to block him; sliding their blades together until the hilts locked and Tommy's blade was locked in the thorns on its arm.

"ARE YOU AFRAID RANGER?" Hissed the Acanthid.

"Of a flower?" Tommy mocked. "No, why are you afraid of me?"

"DON'T BE STUPID!" The Acanthid built the pressure along the blades, trying to force Tommy to the floor.

Tommy knew he couldn't hold his position forever; the monster had superior weight and strength, not to mention the fact that some of the thorns were a little too close for comfort. In a lightening move he slid his blade free and rolled between the Acanthid's legs, turning he plunged the Brachiostaff into the soft red folds between thorns.

The Acanthid let out a scream of outraged pain, Tommy wasn't quick enough to avoid the monster's sweeping arm and found himself soaring through the air.

He felt the contact he made with the wall and yelled in pain as he rushed to meet the concrete, the wall seemed to fall away and he sailed into the smaller anti room, the dust and rubble falling all around him as he smacked the opposite wall.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"She's not here."

Conner's voice sounded tinny over the com in the command centre. Hayley experienced a sinking feeling somewhere in her stomach; that meant that two of the power rangers were missing and probably in trouble. It also meant that her plan of testing the reversal technique she had been working on to halt the Acanthid's effect on Grace could not go ahead; and Grace could not help Tommy.

"Is there any clue as to where she might be?" She asked. "Any sign that Elsa or Zeltrax was there?"

Conner stood on the screen in front of her with Ethan, Kira and Trent; he was shaking his head as he spoke into his wrist communicator. "I don't think so; I mean I can't tell if there was a struggle."

Hayley frowned at their anxious faces. "What do you mean?"

Kira spoke this time. "There's blood everywhere Hayley and a lot of things have been broken, we thought maybe a struggle like she'd been kidnapped but it looks as though it could just be Grace…staggering around. There was blood on the carpet like she'd been lying there."

"We found the map." Ethan continued. "So it's pretty definite that she found the green Dino gem…"

"Of course!" Hayley resisted the urge to smack her head with a palm. "Ethan you're a genius!" Her fingers raced across the keys, searching for the program she needed.

"Um…thanks." Ethan shrugged at the others.

Conner rolled his eyes. "Hayley can we save praise for Ethan for later please? We have a small crisis on our hands here."

"Yeah," Kira interjected. "I don't mean to pull the 'impending doom' thing but it is looking pretty serious over here."

Hayley sighed and couldn't help but smile. "Keep your hair on guys I know what I'm doing; Ethan simply reminded me that I can trace the energy that comes from the Dino gems. If I can get a lock on all the Dino gems in the area; and we know we have six, I'll be able to gauge where both Tommy and Grace are!"

"Are you sure this will work?" Trent asked worriedly.

Hayley sighed again. "I hope so but nothing's certain, this could take some time though guys…" She trailed off in surprise as she got an instant hit. "Hang on guys I might have something!"

She transferred the energy hotspots to a map of Reefside and smiled triumphantly. "Guys I've done it!" She said excitedly. "Tommy and Grace are together, they're on the docks it looks like an old warehousing area."

Conner groaned. "That's miles away on the other side of the town!"

Trent sighed. "I hope we get there in time."

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Tommy tried to pull himself up into a sitting position with a groan, everything so much it was hard for his brain to function; his concentration was shot to pieces. This room was much smaller than the storage space he had previously been in; it was filled with tanks and pipes…and now a lot of rubble with a large hole in the opposite wall.

The Acanthid stepped through menacingly, it yanked out Tommy's staff and tossed it aside as though it were a tooth pick.

"YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THAT." The Acanthid studied one of the thorned hands which was covered in thick green goo that Tommy realized must be its blood. Tommy winced as he shifted the rubble; if he was honest he was already regretting it.

His vision was impaired; the blow had cracked the visor and dust had already seeped in, he pulled it off and took a deep breath of fresher air, he coughed as the dust hit the back of his throat.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE BLACK RANGER AND THEN MY MISSION WILL BE COMPLETE. WITHOUT YOU AND THE GREEN RANGER YOUR PUNY CHILDREN WILL FALL AND FAIL, REEFISIDE WILL BELONG TO MY MASTER!"

Tommy felt too weak to care about his death and the reminder of Grace's still body left him feeling sick and tired. Imagining the four teens at the mercy of Mezagog flared the last piece of energy in him to life, he couldn't give up and leave them to be killed, nor could he give up on defeating Mezagog. Trent's father was still in there somewhere and the world was still in danger.

"I haven't given up yet." Tommy replied grimly and struggled to his feet.

The Acanthid looked surprised but soon recovered; Tommy was too weak to dodge or block the blow that drove him to his knees. It jarred every bone in his body and left him gasping for air; black and white spots danced in front of his eyes.

"_You're weak."_ A voice hissed in his ear, he thought he recognized it.

Another blow had him on all fours and trying to fight off the darkness the threatened to over take him. He raised his head to face the monster, so he could see what was coming next, this last one would finish him and there was nothing he could do he was so tired.

"NO!" A scream caught the Acanthid's attention and there was a sudden flash of green light; Grace threw herself at the shocked monster and the force sent them both reeling to hit the wall. She gave another scream as thorns cut through her skin and her bruised spine encountered the floor.

Grace struggled upright to stand facing the Acanthid. "This is between you and me." She said, her eyes flickered to where Tommy slumped against the wall. Blood streamed from his temple and matted his hair, one eye was already turning black and the rest of his body was no better. He was too weak to move.

"AS YOU WISH." The Acanthid spat. "I CAN FINISH HIM WHEN I HAVE DESTROYED YOU."

Grace drew her Thundermax Saber. "I wouldn't bet on it." She gritted out.

The Acanthid charged her, it swung and chopped trying to force her back and she felt every muscle screaming in the process. She countered each blow and tried to penetrate the soft red flesh, ducking and twisting to avoid the thorns; her cracked ribs had her gritting her teeth with every swerve but she had to keep going.

Her knee buckled suddenly and she wanted to curse Kira as she dropped and the Acanthid's thorn blade sliced through the tatters of her suit and into her shoulder, she gritted her teeth to prevent the cry that threatened to explode out of her throat. She rolled forwards and lunged with her own blade, the monster bellowed angrily; a thorned fist smashed into her arm leaving her numb and made her drop the saber.

She ducked and dodged once more occasionally making for her weapon that lay on the floor but each time she was thwarted. She was bleeding copiously and she knew she couldn't continue like this much longer, in one last desperate attempt she rolled beneath the Acanthid's blade, grabbing hers at the same time; she plunged it into the first piece of unprotected flesh on its chest she could find. The monster seemed to freeze for a moment and she twisted the blade with a yell of exertion, the Acanthid shuddered and dropped to the floor and with one last gargle was still.

Grace's chest heaved and she swiped at the blood and sweat on her brow, she staggered up right dropping the saber from her suddenly trembling arm and limped over to where Tommy lay. She dropped to her knees, ignoring the pain that shot up her body as she did; she yanked off her gloves, she reached out and slid a hand over Tommy's face.

"Tommy? Tommy please…" His eyes flickered at the sound of her voice and she gave an exhausted sob or relief.

"Grace?" His voice was a hoarse whisper and he shifted as though trying to touch her.

Grace took a deep breath, steeling herself. "It's okay." She murmured and took his hand in hers.

Tommy felt a flicker of alarm as he watched her through misted vision; he couldn't make her let go, he couldn't move and he knew what she was about to do. The touch of her hand sent a tingle over his body and his vision began to clear, every broken bone in his body jarred in shock as they mended and his skin stung as it knit itself back together. It seemed her own exhaustion prevented a painless healing, she whimpered as a new cut opened on her head and blood began to slide down her cheek.

Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention away from her and he felt a stab of panic as he realized what he was seeing. Grace apparently saw something in his face because she turned in time for the Acanthid to swing a clubbed hand that caught her on the side of the head.

Grace's hand was ripped from Tommy's and she dropped to the floor, she tried to lift herself up using her arms but she was too tired and it hurt too much. The Acanthid wrapped a hand about her throat and lifted her off of the floor, raising her until her feet dangled in the air.

"THAT WAS A MISTAKE LITTLE GIRL," The Acanthid snarled. "I'LL SEE YOU DEAD FOR THAT!"

Grace could make no reply as she hung, her vision was starting to cloud as she struggled for breath and the sides of thorny fingers scratched at her throat. "YOU'LL DIE KNOWING YOU WERE NEVER GOOD ENOUGH TO BE A POWER RANGER, YOUR WEAKNESS AND STUPIDITY KILLED THEM ALL!"

Grace couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes; it was right, she hadn't been able to defeat him and she hadn't been able to save Tommy. For once she had thought she would be able to do something she hadn't dreamed was possible, she had thought she could make something of herself and prove everyone wrong; that she wasn't weak and cowardly, and now she had failed.

Tommy tried to pull himself up, desperate to help her as she dangled in the monster's grip. The healing and the fight had left him exhausted, he felt as limp as a rag doll and he didn't know what to do. He wanted to yell at her, tell her that the Acanthid was wrong; she'd made a great power ranger and she had helped them all so much.

"YOU COULDN'T SAVE THEM AND NOW I WILL DESTROY THEM ALL, NOTHING WILL STAND IN MY WAY! NOT EVEN THE GREAT DR.OLIVER!" Grace tried to twist her head and saw Tommy out of the corner of her eye trying to stand, using the wall for support; she wanted to scream at him to run away!

"YOUR POWER WAS A WEAKNESS; PAIN WILL ALWAYS BE GREATER THAN HEALING, I CAN DESTROY EVERYTHING EVERY MAN WOMAN AND CHILD. I CAN DESTROY HOPE AND LOVE, KILL THEM ALL. YOU FAILED GREEN RANGER; YOU COULDN"T SAVE THEM, YOU COULDN'T SAVE HIM BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HEAL EVERYTHING!"

Grace felt a tear roll down her cheek as she watched Tommy's dark eyes fill with pain and desperation, too weak to help her. The idea of the others dying made her feel sick, the blackness drowned her until all she could hear was the Acanthid cackling and the beat of her heart. She couldn't let Tommy die like that; she couldn't just give up…

She struggled to open her eyes and not for the first time she wondered how something as beautiful as a Rose could become something so ugly and horrifying. With a renewed determination she raised her hands to wrap themselves about its wrist, ignoring the way the thorns scratched her hands.

"That's where you're wrong," She gritted out. "I can heal anything, even you!" She pulled every last piece of energy, every scrap of power up and released them like a tidal wave to wash over the Acanthid. She screamed in pain her cries mingling with the monster's. Dazzling light flashed through the air and the Acanthid seemed to shrink slowly, its cries becoming fainter.

The thorns became fewer and shrank into stem like legs and soft petals bloomed from the top, she was vaguely aware that she had been dropped to her unsteady feet. She could feel every last drop of power slide from her and be absorbed by the rapidly shrinking monster, metamorphosing back into a rose. At last there was nothing left to give.

Grace reached out slowly and plucked the hovering red rose from the air, she dropped to her knees as the darkness closed in and petals floated to the floor. She hit the ground and lay still.

Panic leant Tommy that little extra strength he needed, half blinded from the light he heaved himself up onto his knees and dragged his tired body over to where Grace lay. He turned her gently, lifting her into his lap.

"Grace please God, please Grace open your eyes." Green eyes filled with pain flickered open, struggled to focus on his worried face. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Did I do it?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

He smiled back down at her. "Yeah, you did it." The flicker of light caught his attention and he lifted his head and saw the dancing flames trailing along the ground. Remembering the pipes and canisters he dragged himself to his feet, pulling Grace up after him. What was the betting they contained something highly flammable?

"Come on Grace," He slid one of her arms about his shoulders and gripped her waist, forcing her to limp forwards. "We need to get out of here, now."

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Kira grabbed hold of Trent's shoulder for support, trying desperately to drag enough air into her lungs. Trent put out a hand to steady her but he was having just as much trouble breathing, Ethan looked like he was ready to die.

Conner stood with his hands on his hips trying to take deep breaths when he felt like his heart was going to explode; soccer had given him slightly better stamina but that didn't mean he was trained to run from one side of the city to the other.

"It could be any of them!" He said throwing his hands up in the air in despair.

Ethan raised his head and stared at Conner giving him a look that clearly suggested that he felt Conner was complete and utter idiot.

"Call me misguided," He panted. "But I would say it was the one with twenty foot flames coming out of the roof."

They all turned to where he was pointing. Kira straightened and stepped forwards, Trent grabbed her arm. "Kira you can't just go in there, you'll be killed!"

"We have to help them!" She cried. "They could be stuck in there!"

"I know," Conner assumed his leadership. "But we can't just walk in there, Trent's right; no one can go in there. They'll be okay Kira, this is Dr.O we're talking about he'll be okay he's had loads of practice at this." Conner sounded unconvinced but knew he was right to say that they shouldn't go in. They could feel the heat from yards away and the sound of breaking glass made Kira flinch, Trent wrapped an arm around her.

"Look!" Ethan's startled cry jerked them to where he was pointing. Two figures stumbled out of the entrance to the warehouse; Tommy was supporting Grace as they staggered to where the rest of them stood.

The warehouse gave a heavy groan and an enormous explosion and column of flame had the teens automatically ducking but Tommy barely flinched. Grace on the other hand suddenly seemed to lose whatever it was that had kept her going, she demorphed in a faint flash of green and her legs buckled forcing Tommy scoop her up and carry her the rest of the way with her head resting on his shoulder.

The four teenagers ran to their teachers as Tommy gently lowered Grace to the floor, they were all horrified at the state of the two rangers; their suits were in tatters covered in ash and blood. Grace trembled uncontrollably the blood trickling down her face from numerous gashes and the rest of her body that could be seen amongst her ripped clothing was little better. Tommy looked exhausted and drawn, his bruises seemed faded as though half healed and the blood on his face and arms had dried making him look like a Halloween creation.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked the obvious but necessary question, the others hovered uncertainly not wanting to touch either of them for fear of hurting them more.

Tommy offered up a tired smile before looking back down at Grace, keeping her up by her shoulders and cradling her head, he seemed too tired for words.

Kira felt tears well in her eyes as she looked at Grace who had to fight to stay conscious, she felt like this was happening to someone else. "Did you destroy it?" her voice broke slightly, she cleared her throat. "Did you kill the Acanthid?"

"Yes." Tommy sounded hoarse as though he had been yelling. "It's gone."

Conner knelt and placed a careful hand on Tommy's shoulder. "You should have waited for us Dr.O, we could have helped."

Tommy smiled at them, his lip splitting as he did. "Its okay guys, I just wanted to…you're my responsibility…"

Trent crouched down in front of him and nodded in understanding. "We understand Dr.O." he sighed, he wanted to explain that they were team and that made him their responsibility too, but he knew for Tommy that wasn't how it worked.

Kira gently brushed a stray curl away from Grace's face; she lay unconscious having finally succumbed to the pain and exhaustion. She looked up, worried. "Will she be okay?"

When Tommy didn't answer, but continued to look down at Grace his face a picture of weariness, Trent pulled Kira to her feet. "We need to get you guys back to Hayley; she'll know what to do."

_**A/N Wahoo! So what did you think, was it alright? It was pretty long and action packed so I'm hoping you did, anyways not much more to go so as always read and review your comments are ALWAYS welcome! xxx**_


	40. Tomorrow

Song – 'Tomorrow' Avril Lavigne

**Grace and Tommy in the aftermath…will she accept the powers? Meanwhile Elsa's in trouble…**

**Chapter 40 – Tomorrow **

**And I wanna believe you When you tell me that it'll be okay Yeah I try to believe you But I don't**

**When you say that it's gonna be It always turns out to be different way I try to believe you Not today…**

**I don't know how I feel Tomorrow, tomorrow I don't know what to say Tomorrow, tomorrow is a different day**

**It's always been up to you It's turning around it's up to me I'm gonna do what I have to do Just don't… Give me a little time Leave me alone a little while Maybe it's not too late Not today…**

**I don't know how I feel Tomorrow, tomorrow I don't know what to say Tomorrow, tomorrow is a different day**

**Hey yeah, yeah Hey yeah, yeah And I know I'm not ready Hey yeah, yeah Hey yeah, yeah Maybe tomorrow**

**And I wanna believe you When you tell me that it'll be okay I try to believe you Not today… Tomorrow it may change Tomorrow it may change…**

Tommy limped down the steps to the Dino lair, it was midnight and the darkness smothered the house but in the command centre dim lights bathed the room with warm gold. Upstairs Hayley slept on the sofa in the lounge having insisted that the injured Tommy sleep in a proper bed. Conner lay on the lounge floor, and in the Dino lair Ethan had fallen asleep in an arm chair with a duvet, clutching his laptop like a safety blanket. Trent slumped on the blue sofa with Kira's head on his shoulder with a blanket tucked around them, sleeping peacefully.

Tommy winced as he nearly slipped down the last step and grabbed the metal railing, but none of the rangers stirred, he envied them their deep sleep. He'd slept for several hours in the afternoon after the fight but he felt too sore and too worried to sleep anymore, Hayley had ended up shoving him back into bed with a drugged tea; he'd get his own back later.

He limped over to Grace; she lay on a bed that reminded him of an operating table the imagery was amplified by the softly beeping machines and flashing figures, as well as numerous tubes and wires that curled around her. She'd barely regained consciousness since the fight and Hayley had her on so many painkillers she couldn't stay awake whenever she did open her eyes. Hayley had been successful at reversing the Acanthid's powers however, something made easier by its demise, and the only wounds left were the ones Grace herself had attained; unfortunately these were still pretty bad.

He lowered himself onto the stool placed by the bed, the last time he had been here Kira had been sat watching the prone figure, her compassionate nature had shifted into overdrive and Trent seemed at a loss for what to do.

He put out a bandaged hand and stroked her hair away from her forehead gently; she shifted slightly beneath his touch her eyes fluttering open. She looked dazed as she focused on her surroundings; she finally caught sight of him, a smile played across her lips.

"Tommy?" her whisper brought a smile to his own lips.

"Hi there." He murmured, careful not to wake the others.

She frowned slightly. "Where am I?"

"My house." She frowned again. "It doubles as the Power Rangers command centre." He added seeing her confusion.

As if suddenly reminded of something she turned her head to look at him, she looked upset. "I'm so sorry Tommy," Tears crept into her eyes and he took her hand to comfort her. "I didn't know…If I had just told you…"

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's okay Grace, don't worry I understand. It wasn't your fault."

"But I feel like it was," She insisted, a tear trickling down her cheek. "I wasn't strong enough I wasn't meant to do this." She raised a hand and pulled the green gem from around her neck, handing it to him she saw his surprised expression.

"Grace…"

"I wasn't supposed to have this Tommy; I found it through fault, through accident."

"No." Tommy curled her fingers back over the gem and covered her fist with his hand. "A gem always chooses the Ranger not the other way around. You were supposed to have this."

Grace shook her head slowly her eyes closing in disbelief. Tommy shrugged and stood; he leant over and placed a kiss on her head. "Tomorrow's another day. Maybe you'll feel differently." He smiled down at her. "Get some sleep." He sat back down still holding her hand.

As if on cue she felt her eyes grow heavy desperate for sleep. As she sank into the dark she was sure she heard him say _"Tomorrow will be different."_

**And I wanna believe you When you tell me that it'll be okay I try to believe you Not today… Tomorrow it may change Tomorrow it may change…**

Elsa knelt in the cold darkness and shivered at the sound of Zeltrax's chuckle, there was silence from the large throne in front of her but she could feel the icy gaze and the threatening aura.

To say she was in trouble was putting it lightly, it was impossible to say what Mezagog would do as her punishment; she had failed him just when it had all been going to plan and now she was going to pay for it.

"Master…" She hated that her voice trembled but she couldn't control her fear.

"Silence." There was more menace in that single word than she remembered. "You stink of fear Elsa, why is that do you suppose?" The voice rasped out of the dark.

She licked her lips nervously. "I have failed you master."

"Yes," The word was little more than a hiss. "Yes you have Elsa, I am…disappointed in you."

She lowered her head closer to the floor, submissive. "I am sorry master I never meant-"

"No, I'm quite sure you didn't." There was a considering pause. "I am also sure you didn't mean to tell the Green Ranger the truth when you said that only she could destroy the Acanthid."

"I am so sorry-"

"You're apologies are less than useless Elsa." He stood and paced the room, running claws over the genome randomizer. "I have worked hard to destroy the Power Rangers, I cannot afford mistakes anymore and your mistake has cost me dear; the rangers are now united Elsa."

"My Lord let me make it up to you." She would beg if necessary.

"No." Mezagog snapped, reseating himself. "You are going to learn Elsa how I reward mistakes…"

_**A/N Okay it was supposed to be more menacing than that but I kind of lost my thread half way through; it was going somewhere but then I forgot where (oops!) Any hoo read on my pretties! xxx**_


	41. Once a Ranger

_**This was kind of inspired by the new Ranger episode I saw, everyone should seriously watch the Operation Overdrive special…Adam from MMPR comes back and still looks as hot as ever, Kira makes an appearance too it's so cool! Seriously guys WATCH IT on you tube! So that was the inspiration, hence the title so enjoy! **_

**All problems solved? Conner's reminiscing and Tommy looks good in a tux…**

**Chapter 41 – Once a Ranger…**

Ethan took a deep breath and tried to pretend that he didn't feel sick, he wiped his damp palms on the sides of his jeans. He was a Power Ranger for God's sake! He could see off monsters and outscore everyone on any video game known to man; he was not going to fall apart over a girl!

Devin glanced over at the boy stood next to him and winced. He nudged Ethan. "Dude, are you okay?"

"Me?" Ethan jumped like he'd been scared awake. "I'm fine, I'm good…why, do I look bad?" The nerves were evident in his voice.

"Cassidy usually gets people worked up; it's her aura I think." He shrugged.

Ethan stared at him. "Why are you here again?"

Devin shrugged. "Cassidy takes me everywhere; she likes me to hold her stuff."

"Ookay." Ethan drew the word out slowly. Jesus this was going to be a weird prom.

Devin eyed Ethan's suit critically and then grinned, the blue waistcoat and tie set of the black trousers and jacket perfectly. "You look good Ethan I'm sure she'll be pleased."

Ethan gave a nervous laughter. "Who; her or her mother?"

Devin was about to answer when the door opened and light flooded onto the porch and chased away the shadows. Ethan caught his breath at the sight of Cassidy stood in the doorway; she reminded him of a pink flower or that weird poisonous munchkin out of the Tangle Wood computer game…best not to say that out loud…

She gave a little squeal of delight at the sight of her two dates and did a little twirl, her pink petticoats swirling around her legs. Devin quickly passed Ethan the pink corsage and with shaking fingers he tied it around her wrist.

"Cassidy, you look…you look-" he stuttered.

Another blonde figure appeared in the doorway. "Oh! You must be Evan!"

Somewhere behind him Devin gave a heavy sigh.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Conner grinned as he watched Trent wrap his arms around Kira; she gave a little smile and seemed to snuggle against him. It was still kind of odd to see the angsty musician being all cute and cuddly with his team mate but what the hell, weirder stuff had happened.

Like being friends with Ethan the computer geek, who was currently staring adoringly at an incessantly chatting Cassidy. Or spending a lot of his time with his teachers out of school and missing soccer practice. Being a Power Ranger? That was way out there with the weird stuff, along with Trent's dad once being a major bad guy and his Principal being even more evil than usual.

That was all over…for now anyway. He'd been going through some more of Dr.O's videos and a lot of the rangers had found themselves taking up their powers again, who was to say he wouldn't?

Now he had to decide what he was going to do with himself which was of course was the big question; the one they started asking you when you were only five 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' Was he grown up now, was he old enough to know? He hadn't known what he wanted to be when he was five and he sure as hell didn't know now!

It was kind of hard to see past being a Ranger after all; everything seemed a little tame after that; a hard act to follow. Dr.O had mentioned some of his friends having a dojo…or maybe he should do extreme sports with all the adrenaline to make up for absent battles…

He could be the next Dr.O, training the latest rangers and waiting for his next call, if anyone was proof of second chances it was Dr.O after all. Perhaps the saying was true; once a ranger always a ranger…

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Grace sighed as she looked at the stain on her carpet; she had discovered that blood didn't wash out that easily. She sat on her bed disconsolately, it was a nice night outside with millions of clear stars and here she was tidying her wreck of a house. Everyone else would be at the school hall, the entire place had been refurbished and repaired with some charitable donations from Anton Mercer, which she supposed was the least he could do. The poor guy obviously felt obligated after everything that had happened, but at least Trent was looking a little better these days.

It was the perfect night for a prom, exams were over and the summer was coming; heaven only knew what she was going to do with herself…she sighed and looked over at the dress that hung on her wardrobe door. She'd bought it with the prom in mind…actually she'd bought it with Tommy in mind but she really needed to ignore that for now. Principal Randal had told her that the teachers were expected to attend and she had actually been kind of looking forward to it but the whole Power ranger thing had gotten on top of her. It was odd to think that only two weeks ago she had been fighting for her life; a week spent in Tommy's basement and another in bed feeling like crap. Hayley had been checking on her everyday making it impossible to leave the house and her visits had always been spur of the moment so she hadn't even been able to potter around the house; she still couldn't move all that fast.

She hadn't fancied going in the end; she was still covered in cuts and bruises which made Anton and the Principal wince whenever they saw her; she felt bad for them and it wasn't exactly fun to be stared at with a mixture of horror and awe by the students.

The emerald green silk whispered over her fingertips and she sighed again. Besides buying it with Tommy in mind had backfired; Mezagog had been pretty pissed at Elsa's failure attacking the rangers with renewed force, and so she had barely seen the others and it kind of seemed like Tommy was avoiding her too.

She put the dress away and began to make her way back downstairs. It was pretty ironic that she had finally decided she was good enough to be a ranger only to lose her powers when she was well enough to use them. Hayley had said that her healing process hadn't been boosted by the ranger powers either, because she'd drained herself healing the Acanthid; healing something that should have just been destroyed was apparently pretty tiring. She'd chosen to be a Power Ranger and now she wasn't one, it was kind of depressing.

She studied the carpet on the stairs critically; it was going to have to be replaced it definitely couldn't be saved. The lounge wouldn't be so bad if she put a rug over the droplets but the hall, bedroom, landing and stairs would have to go; it was disconcerting to walk down every morning and see blood smeared over the floor and walls. It looked like someone had been murdered in her house!

…….

The sound of knocking on her front door thrust away her thoughts, it was as if the house had suddenly come to life with an air of expectancy, like the stars were that bit brighter and the quiet night wasn't so still. Perhaps she was just foolish.

It felt like she was wading through the air as she walked to the door and she wasn't sure who she expected on the other side when she opened it.

Tommy stood in a black tuxedo, a crisp white shirt contrasting sharply in the evening light and a rose in his hand. Dark brown eyes smiled up at her from the bottom step.

"Hello."

Grace felt like she'd been robbed of speech, she simply stood there staring. _Pull it together girl. _ "Tommy. What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her and stepped up to the door, recovering his height so he looked down on her as usual. "I came to see you." He replied.

Grace wasn't sure but she vaguely remembered taking a step back as though his proximity was too…something that robbed her of coherent thought, of breath.

"I thought you'd be at the school." She said, saying the first thing that popped into her head; other than the thought that he looked good enough to eat… _stop it._

"I was, but you weren't there." He stepped closer.

"No," Grace replied vaguely. "I was…" What had she been doing again?

"So I came here." He said with another gentle smile.

"Well, yes." Grace tried not to be flustered…and failed. "Evidently; you being here in front of me." _You're an idiot, laugh it off. _ Bugger.

"I missed you."

_What? _"Um…I…" _Breathe…_

He took her hand and drew her inexorably out of the door and into the cool warmth of the night air. "Tommy…" She began to ask him what he was doing but he shushed her.

"I came to ask for a dance." He said as though knowing what she wanted to ask, he pulled her closer and turned her gently in a circle as though the dance was beginning.

"Um…Tommy there's no music." She pointed out after a few moments.

He just smiled at her. "I know." He chuckled then. "Practical to the end aren't you?"

Grace blushed in embarrassment. Tommy stopped their dance and carefully reached up to tuck the tiny stem of the rose behind her ear.

"You suit red." He murmured into her ear.

She gave a nervous laugh. "I suited green and look how that turned out."

Tommy frowned and trailed his finger tips over her cheek. "It doesn't end here you know."

"It doesn't?" She had a feeling they were talking about more than being a ranger.

He shook his head. "No, we keep going in case there's another chance."

She swayed towards him as though drawn by some unknown force, lifting her face to his. "And if there is?"

Tommy bent his head. "Then we take it."

He dropped a gentle kiss on to her lips as though he were afraid she would break. Grace sighed and leaned in, eager for more; eager for that soft warmth and quiet comfort, eager for the shimmering rush of colours she remembered so well.

What the hell…maybe the stars were that bit brighter.

_**A/N Well folks what do you think, was the ending worth the wait? That is of course if this really is the end…**_


	42. Epilogue

**Chapter 42 – Epilogue**

He hadn't seen them all in such a long time; he'd been busy, they'd all been busy. A Ranger Reunion Adam had said; Kat was visiting from England and Rocky had been in Spain for the last year, it was time they all caught up.

He sighed and sat back on the sofa. It would be good to catch up with them all again, old teams reunited and friendships remade, it was the kind of thing they would have done when they were younger. He could go back to Angel Grove and see how much it had changed, if it had changed at all.

He'd missed them a lot but he'd tried not to think about it too much; good old Billy with his genius, Trini's comforting advice, Rocky's idiotic comments and Kim's giggle. Seeing Jason again had reminded him of all the things he had missed in his search…

He yawned and smiled. He could take Grace and introduce her to everyone, besides it would be a good opportunity to talk to her about something that had been on his mind… What the hell, he could take 'the newbies' as Jason still insisted on calling them; it had been a year since the defeat of Mezagog and they had been planning to visit him during the summer.

Tommy sank into the sleep that had been threatening him all afternoon…

**The darkness was cold, impenetrable.** There was a mirror in front of him that glowed faintly, it seemed familiar somehow but he couldn't remember seeing it before. He couldn't see in to it, or see his reflection through the pale mist that wreathed it.

"_Hello Tommy."_

He spun, trying to catch a glimpse of who had spoken; he felt frightened all of a sudden like the voice was a threat. It had a menacing tone and sounded vaguely familiar…

"Who are you?" He asked.

"_You still don't know?"_ The voice hissed and then gave a soft chuckle. _"Don't worry Tommy you will. You will…"_

_**A/N Basically guys I have a sequel planned, the Epliogue leads to new questions such as what was Tommy's search, and why does he need to speak to Grace? Last but not least whose is the voice that has haunted his dreams for so long..?**_


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